On the Slay: Talking Sleigh Bells (And How They ‘Kill-It’) 05/03/2011

Posted by Vaughn in Editorial, Indie Culture, Media, Rock.
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“Crown on the Ground,” Sleigh Bells

FOR many indie music groups looking to push a forward-looking mantra, in an already tough marketplace of creativity, the mashing of several audio textures from within their genres and outside of it has been as of late an accepted and anticipated avenue to achieve their goals, since it does seem as if — outside of finding pure, technical perfection — this is the last vanguard tool at their disposal. It is also one of the things that separates the acts on “big, ugly record labels” (read: safe, categorizeable bounds) from the ones that grab the discerning people, the music snobs; these are the labels with soul and the acts which are able to touch a beneath-the-surface collective pulse, often barely recognized on the larger scale.

Genre-bending between pop-melodies, hip-hop’s percussives and bravado, punk’s youthful rebellion and dance orientations, aggressively dark lyrics or coy methods of discussing outlaw-ish subjects and of course, traditional instrumentation; have helped artists like Santigold and of course, M.I.A., become largely saleable, but otherwise, underground acts. And this is the space and recipe that Brooklyn’s Sleigh Bells holds to, after dropping a beloved and truly promising self-titled freshman E.P. in 2008, the diad of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss returned in the middle of last year with their full debut album, Treats, and to Pitchfork’s warm embrace, who gave them an “8.9/10″:

Treats delivers completely on the promise of those demos. Sleigh Bells haven’t stopped living the red, but the improved recording quality makes songs including “Crown on the Ground” that much heavier, and the duo have managed to extend their uncomplicated formula across 11 tracks without it wearing thin. The combination of the music’s essentials– jackhammer riffs clipped from punk and metal, mid-tempo beats from hip-hop and electro, and supremely catchy sing-song melodies– is striking on its own, sounding remarkably fresh and unlike anything else right now. But an even greater source of the record’s appeal is how it doesn’t sound especially referential.

When so much music seems designed to evoke the mood and vibe of a specific era, either through direct imitation or playing with the memories of the music’s context, Sleigh Bells deftly avoid any single pigeonhole. There are references, but it never feels like the music is merely pointing. Genre here is something to be twisted around and pulled and braided with something else, a mangled container struggling to hold the energy and ecstasy of the music. They gather up bits from all over and use them to create music that puts you squarely in the present moment.

The music hits so hard, and in such a satisfying way, and it seems designed to bring you back to the totality of the sound. It’s hard to say what the songs are about, since so many words are so difficult to make out, but they work. The lyrics of “A/B Machines” consist only of, “Got my A machines on the table/ Got my B machines in the drawer,” repeated over and over, and who am I to question Krauss on this point? We’re talking about “a-wop bop a-loo bop a-lop bam boom” and “Da Doo Ron Ron” here, which is just right for what the music tries for.

-Album Reviews, “Sleigh Bells: Treats,” Pitchfork

While that glowing paean was somewhat shall we say, predictable; just based on figuring what has been a “Pitchfork-approved album” in the past, and the fact that Sleigh Bells is actually signed to critical-darling M.I.A.’s label, N.E.E.T., all of that is quite irrelevant since Sleigh Bells’s merit is obvious; doing what they do in a manner that truly augments the music experience, as the review implies. They are at once “chill,” punk, hip-hop, electronic, dance, and (at times) shoegaze without contrivance, and they are filled with, and exude, that much desired and chased for thing called “authenticity.” It doesn’t seem that they woke up one morning and said, “Hey I got this gimmick that will makes us an underground sensation!” Now it is certainly possible that this happened, but unlikely.

Their sound is the equivalent of “shock and awe.” A purely meditated audio violence of rapid dominance. It’s an approach that uses periodic moments of serenity which then suddenly finds itself in full-assault, not unlike the momentary peace one feels in a fight within their own head and internal dialogue; but just as quickly, the crushing blows rattles one’s mind from elsewhere and back into the now and primal. It’s an experience, to say the least, even though what Sleigh Bells does is not necessarily wholly new, there are, as said earlier, recent critical success that achieve similar goals; their execution and utter disregard for anything is apparent and particularly sublime. It’s just viciously-minded in approach.

The third single from Treats — and the first visual — was the already commercially exposed “Infinity Guitars,” a track that had been in circulation for a year and is used in a Windows Phone spot. (Their song “Kids” was featured in M.T.V.’s extended promos for its re-interpretation of the hit U.K. teen, comedy-drama, Skins.) But this is testimony to just how great the track is and their video for “Infinity Guitars” was a pitch-perfect encapsulation of the sensibilities they evoke: made of a brash, distant-above-it-all-cool-that-is-too-much-for-meager-mainline-takes.

While the video seemed to almost be an encounter of a repeat of the classic high school experience (varsity jacket and cheerleaders) that is so often trolled by suburban youth ennui rock, it never goes there, though its images are at times, momentarily, Nirvana-ish. And perhaps that was a particular goal, to borrow some of the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” cultural cachet, and also upend some of rock’s easier, suburban past. (“Easier” is not a reference to Nirvana, but to the subject of emotionally introspective high school video treatments.)

In late January Sleigh Bells released the second video for Treats, “Rill Rill,” which continued the duo’s appearance with some mention of high school motifs, only this time more apparent, and with a darker 1980′s feel, unlike “Infinity Guitars,” which could be characterized as an indie-version of a hip-hop, street anthem on mayhem, that just so happened to have cheerleaders.

“Rill Rill” is perhaps the first (somewhat) popular mainstream song that I can remember which referenced “6-6-6,” and given its video, it seems to have a Heathers feel that is brilliant, considering the mysterious lyrics about a girl and her relationship troubles, her maintaining of appearances, and doing so through coke, I believe, as evidenced by the lyric, “cut ‘em up in the bathroom,” and “six straight sets, ace” implying that she’s a tennis star.

Regardless of the real answer to the video’s subject, which ultimately differs in the song a tad, though still on the same morose path, I believe, it is just another confirmation of just how strong Sleigh Bells has broken out to bring something completely fresh to the music scene that is catchy and warm on the surface, but ultimately cold and smart, producing a pop music Trojan Horse.