Canadian band Cola are just about to hit Australia for a run of shows, that includes a stop off at La La La's on June 10th, ahead of the tour, the bands vocalist/guitarist Tim Darcy joins us to discuss five influential albums.
Your first album. It can be the first record/cd/tape you bought, first album downloaded or just the first album you remember hearing that stuck with you.
One of the earliest CDs that I remember picking out myself and listening to over and over was the Creedence Clearwater Revival Chronicle collection—a kind of ‘best of.’ I don’t think had much context for it. It wasn’t music my parents or friends listened to and I was quite young. I think I probably heard “Bad Moon Rising” and instantly connected with it. I still love that band. John Fogerty is one of the all-time great rock vocalists.
The album that changed your musical outlook. It can be your most influential, one that led you down a certain path, or had a long-lasting impact on you.
A record that changed my trajectory in life and the kind of music I was interested in is I Can Hear The Hear Beating As One by Yo La Tengo. YLT was one of the most enduring musical loves of my teenage years and it gave me a sense that writing, recording, and playing music was something I could actually do. Their music always felt to me like being let in on a process—I am aware of them as a band of three people jamming and working things out and pointing back to artists they so openly borrow from like The Velvet Underground and Neu!. Their humbleness and the breadth of their influences (and Ira’s madcap guitar playing) was so refreshing and in general they were also a genesis for me getting into other modern rock/punk/indie bands.
An album that you love but is not as widely known as it should be.
I’d be hard pressed to come up with a better answer than Life Without Buildings’ Any Other City.
The record that drew you in with its visuals. It can be the cover art, a press pic of the band that made you take notice, ect.
I remember seeing the Doc at the Radar Station LP by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band on the wall in my local record store growing up. It was a small used shop and I would often comb through the bins for anything that looked interesting. They had a listening station so I would often try out things on instinct. I remember seeing the cover for DATRS, this incredible abstract painting that then was like half blacked-out again and thinking... I have to listen to that. And the music totally set my brain on fire. It’s still one of my favorite
Beefheart records.
The album you are currently loving the most at the moment.
Brian Eno’s music is so dear to me and has been for a long time. But this past year I keep returning to his records again and again—for inspiration and for comfort. Simply put, more than any other artist, he has been a part of or has made himself some of my favorite albums ever made. An obvious choice maybe but no less true. It’s incredible that there are still albums of his I have yet to have my moment with or discover. Thursday Afternoon would be my choice. A friend of mine told me to listen to it recently and I was surprised I hadn’t heard it. It’s a beautiful, soothing record. I tend to think that new age/ambient/drone/etc music is better heard on CD.
Catch Cola on tour around Australia in June:
Wed. June 10 - Wollongong, AU @ La La La’s
Thu. June 11 - Canberra, AU @ Uc Hub
Sat. June 13 - Newcastle, AU @ The Hamilton Station Hotel
Sun. June 14 - Sydney, AU @ Mary’s Underground
Wed. June 17 - Adelaide, AU @ The Ed Castle
Thu. June 18 - Melbourne, AU @ The Thornbury Theatre
Fri. June 19 - Castlemaine, AU @ The Bridge Hotel
Sat. June 20 - Brisbane, AU @ Against The Grain Festival