Kevin Bronson on March 24th, 2010

0

The Deadly Syndrome, “Nolens Volens” (self-released) – Someday the Los Angeles quartet might make an album as explosive as its live show, but for now we have this: a sophomore record filled with tender moments that feel like pleas for emotional truth in times when guys wearing the right hipster uniforms are anointed prophets (and, sometimes, profits) and the cacophony of artistic noise is deafening. The album’s title – Latin for “willing or unwilling” – might be an oblique reference to the foursome having carried on at all after their debut album was mishandled by Dim Mak. Better, though, to regard it as a warning not to get swept away by today’s turbulent cultural currents. “We have been here before / We’ve come such a long way / Now we’re in trouble again,” Chris Richard sings in “Trouble Again.” The subtleties of “Nolens Volens” offer shelter from the storm – Richard’s arching tenor, Will Etling’s remarkable guitar lines, Jesse Hoy’s spare rhythms and Michael Hughes’ colorful keyboards. There are moments of bombast – “Wingwalker’s” ticklish guitar line suddenly detonating, “Party City’s” anthemic intro, “Deer Trail Place’s” agitated round – but mostly the Deadly Syndrome are deadly cerebral here, and we should feel lucky to get inside their heads. Highly recommended.

||| Download: “Wingwalker”

||| Live: The Deadly Syndrome celebrate their album release with a show Thursday at the Echoplex, supported by Signals and Rabbits.

||| Previously: The Deadly Syndrome talk about making “Nolens Volens”