Cola

Formed in Montreal, Cola brings together Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy, former members of Ought, with drummer Evan Cartwright, a musician associated with U.S. Girls and The Weather Station. The Canadian trio operates in a tight post‑punk and indie rock register, with nervy songwriting, angular guitars, a highly mobile bass and vocals often held back, hovering between speech and melody. Born in the wake of Ought’s end, Cola took shape around the turn of the 2020s and released Deep in View in 2022, followed by The Gloss in 2023. These records extend a sober, precise aesthetic in which songs move forward through repetitive motifs, rhythmic displacements and subtle variations rather than through climactic effects. On stage as in the studio, Cola develops a tense yet readable approach, rooted in Montreal’s independent scene while circulating on North American and European circuits. From project to project, Cola maintains the same attention to short structures, dry textures and a form of oblique pop inherited from indie rock and art punk.