Constitution – Wrestling With the Daylight

By Dusty Ray
Fort Collins quartet Constitution embraces down-home, whiskey-drinking, feel-good music with their latest release, Wrestling With the Daylight. It is a very light album, laden with the playful bluegrass/folk that has become a staple of many Colorado groups. It does jump beyond its simple framework, throwing trumpet and steel drum into the mix, adding another dimension to the album as a whole.
“Can’t See Me” is reminiscent of the Grateful Dead during their Working Man’s Dead years; a mandolin-driven piece with storytelling lyrics about being not just another face in the crowd, but a different face in the crowd. The vocal delivery has a raspy southern twang, and is backed up by the cooing of the rest of the band.
The album takes a more Spanish turn with “Pesos”; an airy trumpet line (played by Greta Cornett) brings in the verse, lyrics laden with everyone’s favorite problem: money. The bouncy, fun feel spills over into the tracks “Last Drag” and “Don’t Get It” and sets the theme for the rest of the album, which is more up-tempo and full of finger-pickin’ speed.
Wrestling With the Daylight finds its variety less in song structure (most of the tracks are reflective of the others) and more in the instrumentation chosen. The vocal delivery doesn’t change across the whole of the cut, and a certain amount of emotion is lost halfway through the album. But what it lacks in diversity, it makes for with its country charm.
If you like your whiskey and wine, pick up a copy of Wrestling With the Daylight.
myspace.com/constitutionfortcollins

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