See Cola Live in Chicago on Friday, July 10, 2026, Doors Open at 9:00 PM

Doors: 8PM / Show: 9PM / 21+C.O.L.A. is sort of a self-titled album. Its an acronym for Cost of Living Adjustment, a fitting conceptual framework for the bands third record. Why? Because C.O.L.A. considers, among other things, socialism vs. hell. It considers: rolling the dice of life. The eerie and sweet pangs that nostalgia can provoke. This is not new territory for band members Tim Darcy, Evan Cartwright, and Ben Stidworthy. It is, in Cartwrights words a deepening of what weve been doing. C.O.L.A. is an intricate, beautiful, and sometimes strange record. It is the bands most refined offering. A perfection of carefully honed aesthetic impulses. Cola, as a band, says Darcy is defined by its tasteful minimalism. A deep appreciation for making music that is romantic, subtle, and deceptively intense. C.O.L.A., however, is the bands most maximalist work to date. This is a little tongue and cheek (We were so worried, says Cartwright, About all the songs on this record being too different). In practice, this maximalism means that a song like Hedgesitting, has both live drums and a sample drum loop. Hedgesitting, is a gorgeous, lush song. Its like a deconstructed, chopped s Disintegration. Its also a little indebted to Sarah Records. When you were young, Darcy sings at the songs start, you came to make it. C.O.L.A., like everything written by the band, is inherently collaborative. The band writes everything separately, then comes together and works in the studio. Look again to Hedgesetting, to see this in action, which started out with chords that Darcy had sent, then the band expanded it together, with Stidworthy remixing it right before heading to the studio. This division of labor works intuitively. It is a part of the bands DNA to say, take an arrangement Stidworthy wrote, and then have Darcy and Cartwright build upon it. Take Favoured Over the Ride, as an example. I wanted to create a dusky, melancholy palette for Tim to write lyrics for, says Stidworthy. The song starts with a lonely, dreamy guitar riff. Then theres a crisp line of bass and it all comes into focus: Whats on the ceiling thats caught your gaze? sings Darcy. Its a moment of clarity on a record that is interested abstraction. C.O.L.A. is full of these clarifying moments: where a whole swirl of feelings become so clear that it almost hurts a little bit.

This event is 21 and over. Any ticket holder unable to present valid identification indicating that they are at least 21 years of age will not be admitted to this event, and will not be eligible for a refund. Make sure to bring a valid ID

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