Stream: The Deadly Syndrome, ‘Spirit of the Stairs’

Kevin Bronson on May 21st, 2012

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Around 2007, the Deadly Syndrome were among the brightest lights on L.A.’s indie-rock horizon, four scruffy dudes who performed sweat-soaked shows with cardboard cutouts of ghosts onstage – a reference to one of their best songs and also symbolic of the quartet’s unspoken maxim that what they were doing (and probably whatever we were, too) was all about confronting your fears. They re-popularized the set-ending drum circle (“Eucalyptus,” ended with a bang, every time), released a very good debut “The Ortolan” and generally slapped smiles on the faces of everybody who saw them. Whether it was their unfortunate label association (Dim Mak) or other problems, the Deadly Syndrome never got the credit it deserved. The foursome rebounded in 2010 with the self-released “Nolens Volens,” even as frontman Chris Richard joined up with Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. And now they have their third album ready: “All in Time” will be out Aug. 7. More on the album later, but its first single “Spirit of the Stairs” has hit iTunes. It has a bit of a Talking Heads-meets-psych-pop vibe and (yet another) wicked guitar part from Will Etling. Makes you happy to hear them, and not just their ghosts.