Album Review: The Deadly Syndrome – Nolens Volens

By Jackie Lam

The Deadly Syndrome’s second album, Nolen Volens, scheduled for release on March 23, is a rare breed of sophisticated songsmithing that manages to be minimal and uncluttered, yet moody and complex. A follow-up to their debut album, The Ortolan,  released in 2007, Nolen Volens is anything but sophomoric. The ten songs by the Silver Lake indie quartet are like a bunch of sad, visceral montages fastened together with ethereal synth sounds, cascading acoustic guitar and trembling vocals. You feel as if you are getting pulled into someone else’s nostalgia and sorrow, and don’t mind in the slightest bit. 

The album’s opening track, “Villain,” with a gentle, lingering acoustic guitar and lead singer Chris Richard’s lackadaisical vocals, conjures up the image of floating down the river on a warm summer day. “Wingwalker,” is a moody anthem and one of the more atmospheric, songs on the album. Perhaps my favorite track is “Armrest,” which starts off with a slow succession of acoustic guitar and comes to a reluctant swell, replete with trumpet and a driving bass drum. “Heresy,” the album’s last track, with sparse notes on the keyboard that fades in and out, a static-like noise playing in the background, and Richard’s contemplative vocals, carries a feeling of fading exuberance. I felt something similar to the feeling one would experience if they had an unexpected reprise with a dear friend they haven’t seen in years.   
Overall, Nolens Volens has an earnestness apparent in the thoughtful arrangements of the songs. With tracks such as “Deer Trail Place,” “Trouble Again,” and “After Work,” TDS possesses the gumption to explore and try different things—a quirky sound effect so nonintrusive it could easily go unnoticed, an effective layering of different instruments, lyrics that catch you off-guard. Released independently, the band mixed about half the tracks themselves. The heavy hand and exploratory approach is apparent in these beautifully constructed songs, and there can only be better things to come.  

The Deadly Syndrome perform at their record release party at The Echoplex on March 25. Rabbits (the new band from Jack Burnside of Mezzanine Owls) and Signals (featuring ex-Mae Shi members) will be playing with them. In the meantime, you can download their first single, “Wingwalker,” on the band's web site www.thedeadlysyndrome.com. 

Comments

[Matty]

Great review, Jackie!

[Jackie]

Thank you, Matty! It was a fun album to review.