“When They Fight, They Fight”
from the album Con Law
2009
iTunes
Is your life a mess? Perhaps a perky pop song could help! So say these thoughtful New Orleans lads, whose sparkling debut wraps stories of loneliness and shaky relationships in shiny melodies and sweet vocals. Frontmen Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer use strummy sounds as a substitute for antidepressants, dulling the misery of “Bobby Beale,” a Fountains of Wayne-style melodrama, and “Faces in the Dark,” which observes, “I take some comfort, losing my memories.” Although their cheery facade ultimately doesn’t overcome the gnawing desperation, Con Law is good, neurotic fun.