Bird On The Wire presents COLA | Plus Special Guests Drahla and MOULD

With roots in Montreal, the band Cola was formed by ex-Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy. Evan Cartwright, an in-demand session musician and collaborator in Toronto’s vibrant jazz/experimental scene with acts such as U.S. Girls and The Weather Station, joined after their first practice in 2019.

In 2022, Cola released their debut LP Deep In View on Fire Talk Records. Earning praise from outlets like Pitchfork, Clash, NME, NPR, FADER, Stereogum, Paste and Rolling Stone who named the band an Artist You Need To Know and called their debut "one of the year’s most thrilling rock statements," the album was one of the year's most acclaimed debuts.

On June 14th, Cola release their new album 'The Gloss', out via Fire Talk. This year they've already sold out two London headline shows at The George Tavern during their UK tour, and released new singles ‘Bitter Melon‘ and 'Pallor Tricks'. Looser, and more exploratory than their debut, ‘Bitter Melon’ shifts down into a hypnotic gear of repetition and polyrhythmic guitar fingering that evokes the more mystical side of krautrock or kosmische. It provides an intriguing suggestion of where the band might take the sound that was so lauded on their debut, maintaining their edge while giving themselves a little more room to breath. 'Pallor Tricks' ups the tempo, seeing the band at perhaps the most volatile point in their catalog to date, with nervous rhythms desperately chasing different shades of distortion in search of equilibrium.

“Cola’s debut album addresses modern anxieties wrought by technology in a world on the brink, bringing their imagistic worldview to the present…with sharper hooks and more succinct songwriting than the members’ past work. – Pitchfork

“’Very few bands currently operating are able to capture the mass content era, specifically the way in which it leaves you feeling bloated but somehow empty, than they do.” – FADER

“Bobbing and weaving, its wiry, intricate guitar part pushes Tim Darcy’s vocal into a different plane from his previous work.” – Clash (8/10)