Sleigh Bells: Treats

i thought ratatat were kind of bullshit too.

they were pretty bad

The might Maura weighs in: http://www.theawl.com/2010/05/sleigh-bells-treats

Uh, mighty.

That's an excellent review but one where I agree with the larger thesis at the end than the worth of the album used to illustrate the point!

ned that is a confusing sentence

Written in a rush. :-D

Actually the key points appear at the start and the end:

One of the things that I bemoaned about "indie" for so long was its overly mannered nature — bands that would garner accolades from critics seemed to me like music made for droning one's life away in a vaguely creative cubicle farm, full of beautiful, correctly executed moments that had zero resonance except to serve as placeholders until the next batch of aesthetes came along. Sleigh Bells feels like it was created as a direct protest against this type of music — the songs that spill out of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss are vital and fun, maxing speakers' volume in a bone-shaking way that can't help but transfer outward to the rest of one's person.

...

But for the most part, the album is loud, and aggressive, and fun. When I talk to people about Sleigh Bells, it's interesting to see what points of comparison come up: Krauss' cheery voice lends comparisons to pop; the blown-out sonics cause people to reach back to '90s techno. While perusing Twitter earlier I saw comparisons to Ludacris, Dirty Projectors, and T. Rex. Treats is probably going to be a very polarizing record, but after an era where inoffensive blandness ruled the roost, I do not think that's a bad thing at all.

In both these parts Maura's larger point completely matches with my point of view -- 'indie' as such contains a vast drab world of dullardry that squashes my brain, nice to have something to kick against that. Where we differ is that I don't think this is the album for it -- but not in a sense of 'ugh, this is horrible,' more like 'man, SO close, but they're not working for me somehow.'

(Also, as with anything like it, a mad sudden rush of 'OMG THE BEST THING EVER' = me going "Uh, you sure?" If that's a character flaw of mine then oh well.)

I mean, if you want another point of comparison, right this second the thread below this one on the new answers page is for the frickin' National. Kill me.

It's a common fetish for a doting Ned
to ballerina on the coffee table, cock in hand

*yack*

i'll take vampire weekend

Listening to this Sleigh Bells album streaming from NPR. Take away the redlined production and you're left with a bunch of middling *things* that, structure-wise, just aren't very interesting and effective as pop songs.

It's like they've written a load of catchy 10-second hooks, but then fail to write songs around them all.

^i think i agree with this post

That said, I give you this again:

http://rekkerd.org/img/200912/PLP_Sleigh_Bells.jpg

i really want to like this cuz i dig their aesthetic in theory, but i can't get into the album -- just don't think there are great 'songs' here, but maybe i'm being too rockist or something -- i guess ppl who dig this album would say that that doesn't really matter? or maybe that it runs counter to what they're trying to do? -- either way there are parts of songs that i dig but it all falls rather flat to me -- also still have major problems with the productions & don't really see how it's a selling point at all

rill rill/ring ring is a masterpiece tho

i really want to like this cuz i dig their aesthetic in theory

Me too. Times New Viking pull this thing off a lot better -- distorted/catchy as fuck, in tandem.

i don't really mean the lo fi thing -- more of like, dude shredding on guitar/drum machine/chick chanting all over the place

like, "crown on the ground" would be away better if it was whistle-clean

i guess ppl who dig this album would say that that doesn't really matter?

erm, no, there are def great songs here

i don't really see what the distortion at all adds to these songs

I feel like I'm at a hockey game listening to this album.

i think i like the ones that sound like m.i.a. the best

i.e. "riot rhythm"

i think i'm gonna listen to ponytail's 'ice cream spiritual' now

This album rules. \m/ O_O \m/

Sleigh Bells' Rubies: 10.0 Best New Music!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Screw this band. I'm going to see the Drive-by Truckers on Thursday. I'm a rockist in my old age now. No patience for this crap. Or maybe I just can't the way the singer performs. And the guitar is dumb.

http://hypem.com/search/ponytail%20beg%20waves/1/

^^fathered your whole style

I guess my monitor is an "A" machine, 'cause it's on a table right now, but if I shoved it in a drawer, then I'd be a B machine. Dope!

Uh, it'd, not I'd.

It's like they've written a load of catchy 10-second hooks, but then fail to write songs around them all.

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Tuesday, May 11, 2010 11:40 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark

i kind of like this

Churches should have Rill Rill play instead of real bells imo.

Er, forgot about the 16-666 lyric. Whatever. Bells!

And yes, as stated above, Times New Viking pulls off the blown out sound way way better.

More like the BLOWS sound imo.

jk

TS: Sleigh Bells vs. Broken Bells vs. Howling Bells vs. Belle and Sebastian vs. Belly.

i wish ppl would've been this hyped on Be Your Own Pet

Jemina's solo record had some dope songs on it

i actually never listened to that

listened to this today (npr lol) and it sounded like ratatat fronted w/vocals by a white chick doing MIA impressions?? at least that was my initial, off the cuff impression

I can relate to the erzats 'Ting Tings' vibe some of you are getting from them. I'm personally getting increasingly tired of the current lo-fi trend in indie rock... I get they are at least not using it to muffle underwritten songs and this might just be my problem with them; the production is not helping distract us from a bad song but from a potentially good one.

Then again, a song like 'Rill Rill' would probably sound twee if you tear down all the red levels.

xxpost

Check out "Ecstatic Appeal" & "Nashville Shores," at least

ned bringing all the OTM upthread

I want to reiterate: God, they're terrible. Iconoclasm, OK maybe, but I still reserve the right to an opinion. I usually agree with most hype (i.e., Animal Collective was an incredible find for me upon first hearing) but this stuff is terrible.... it reminds me of Linkin Park gone indie, or something like that.

OK, terrible comparison. The boom-boom-clap-clap-guitar-guitar-girl-girl song structure just isn't doing it for me. It sounds like crunk for white people.

Linkin Crunk!

crawwwwllliiinnnggg innnnnnn myyyyyy A/B machinnneeeeeeee