It's familiar fodder for the bromantic comedy: the "Friend Zone." Here, Louis Jones —fresh off last year's Bad Penny, an album-length devotional to his girlfriend— places himself as that familiar lovable loser: the nice guy pining for the girl who may or may not be out of his league."What have I got going for me?" Jones carols, in a half-time jam that has none of fuzzy jukeboxery of his usual Spectrals joints. "How do I make us happen?/You probably think I'm really nice/you probably think I'm polite/you wouldn't be seen dead with me."
From there, it's a tragicomic slunk through the kind of sentimental humiliation so aptly captured, so long ago, on television's immortal Freaks & Geeks. "Why do I do it to myself?" Jones sings, a sad clown pining wistfully, as guitars jangle sadly. As much as its refrain —"you've got more than a friend in me"— feels like an attempt to heroically —rom-com-ically— win the girl, there's a sense of despair, despondency, and resignation that will appeal to the heartbroken/socially-maladjust everywhere.
Spectrals, "Friend Zone"
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