– The Ortolan

When listening to The Deadly Syndrome’s album “The Ortolan” you get an instant rush of nostalgia for when music could be sung on a street corner.

	July 13, 2007

The quartet has this raw beat that seems like something a few guys would polish up and try to get a few bucks off the corner. The music industry is filled with over edited albums that try to be too many things at once. The Deadly Syndrome has a type of off beat harmonization. It sounds cliché, but they’re down to earth simple beats are the type of tracks that make “The Ortolan” an approachable album for folks wanting to get into the indie genre. Songs like “Wolves in the Garden” and “Animals Wearing Clothes” are hallmark examples of folk music, too and it shouldn’t scare particularly anyone away. It’s a well produced album and a bit of a departure from what the band is normally known for, but the ending sort of redeems itself, or if you liked the flow the beginning of the album the conclusion will throw you for a rollercoaster. For some reason, the humble lyrics don’t seem to belong to the title track “The Ortolan,” which is like attack of the synthesizers. It’s something to get lost in, but somewhat ruins the climax of an admirable album.

By Nathan Solis

Listen to the album at Amazon.com