On their third record, the "almost self-titled" Cost of Living Adjustment, groovy Montreal post-punk trio Cola sound positively massive; going for broke, pulling out every tool in the box for maximum effect. With these career-best performances, the band's end-of-the-world assembly line have constructed their finest machine to date.C.O.L.A.'s paranoid, left-leaning imagery is conjured in the push pull of skittering drums from Evan Cartwight (U.S. Girls) clanging against the masterclass melodic bass by Ben Stidworthy (Ought). Cartwright's mix of live and sampled drums create a machinic momentum that never lets up — even on four-on-the-flour stomps like the sinister "Haveluck Country." Then, there's the bass alternating between danceable thuds and New Order-esque melody lines, some of Stidworthy's best-ever playing. Finally, there's Tim Darcy, auditioning himself as Canada's most charismatic frontman. Between his command of shock-and-shimmer guitar and his elastic, character-laden vocal choices, he's evocative and apocalyptic, remixing every one of his personalities from across Ought's preacher-from-hell crescendos, to his criminally underheard solo LP, and Cola's more laidback vocal approach on their first two records.Has this band sounded more stadium ready than the tense power-pop of "Favoured Over the Ride"? The opening lines, "These things get complicated quickly / That's why I'm not mincing any of my words," sound like some of the best shout-along lines to a classic Sloan tune. You'd be forgiven for dancing along to "Skywriter's Sigh," even though its chorus is a dystopian descent: "Feeling weak in jumbotron gaze / We brooded and waited, and where did it get to? / Please don't romanticize a better time / They'll put your cot outside in the rain."There's a dread, some sort of looming threat on Cost of Living Adjustment — and Cola are fighting back. The tempos are relentless, and there's a hypnotic quality to Darcy's chiming guitar chords ringing over the circling, nervous rhythms. Cartwright and Stidworthy never overplay, but they ominously ramp up in tension as songs like lead single "Hedgesitting" play the switch-up around them. Between the looping drums and huge choruses, that tune is the closest the band comes to being evil Blur — and it's inspired. Get your bucket hats.The band even make time for some woozier experiments: the lo-fi acoustics on "Fainting Spells" slowly give way to woody, melodic bass work and march-esque snare with full-on electric guitar. Then, the maximalist chorus fades into the half-remembered AM radio guitars of the verses. It would be nostalgic, almost comforting, if it wasn't for Darcy's menacing drawl: "The last place you'd find me is at the gate / The one where no starting gun sounded / Blood feathers don't fall to the floor / Naturally things have to make their rounds."The hooky "Polished Knives" has some of the heaviest, darkest bass work Stidworthy has ever put to tape, but the whole affair is still just so damn groovy. Somewhere in the 2010s, angular post-punk forgot how to make people dance, but here it's one of Cola's most infectious powers. There's a leeriness to the record, but its driving momentum keeps the whole thing electric. Maybe it's a call to action — like on the upbeat "Much of a Muchness," where Darcy croons, "These intimations have finally crossed a line / We carry a torch for the perfect light."Unafraid to venture into straight-up dissonant, malevolent territory on their third record, Cola have pointed their finger at the Machiavellian forces sapping our collective energy — "I took out a loan to watch the night sky / I needed inspiration from the inverse of what I knew / A celestial event was worth a season of rent / And I didn't know it" ("Skywriter's Sigh") — and offered a shot of adrenaline; it's time to wake the hell up. Cost of Living Adjustment hits like piping hot, full-bodied espresso right to the heart, and it's the band's best work yet.
Wavelength
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