Sleigh Bells’ new effort a flop

By: Carlos Sucre-Parra/Columnist

 

Sleigh Bells’ sound is very peculiar. The combination of heavy guitar riffs and sweet pop vocals allow for a juxtaposition of elements that would normally clash and make for an unpleasant experience, yet still pay off and deliver a pleasant surprise, much like a Sour Patch Kid.

Yet, despite these contrasting elements in their sound, their first album, “Treats,” was a success, attracting both indie tastes with its image and the mainstream public with its catchy, borderline jock jam songs that resemble football arena chants more than overwrought melodies.

It was easy to hop on the bandwagon and have a good time with the tunes, as the simple, often yelled-out lyrics inherently demand for the listener to have fun.

“Reign of Terror,” their second effort, places a certain dilemma for the band: maintain the same sound and face the risk of seeming dated, or depart from their initial image, become more ambitious, and seek greater artistic payoff?

In general, while there are minor changes to the approach of the songs, which have richer sounds and heavier layers and instrumentation thanks to better production, “Reign of Terror” sounds flat and lethargic in spirits and composition; it does nothing to further improve the band’s signature sound nor its image.

The contrast in sounds and vocals that became Sleigh Bells’ claim to fame is tough to replicate.

It requires a great level of precision and production in order to make this particular style accessible to the public, yet displaying raw power and emotion in a controlled manner, an orderly chaos that proved hard to reproduce, even for its own authors, as it happens in this second album.

What once seemed exciting and energetic seems simply disorganized and dull—a messy injection of layer upon layer of sound, often discordant just for its own sake, with no real sense of purpose.

This absence of sonic unity, in turn, leads to disinterest on the part of the listener, something that may not necessarily be considered a negative, as the album blows through in a rather brief 36 minutes.

The album lacks any catchy, easy sing-along tracks like “Rill Rill,” the closest to this being “Comeback Kid,” which has overcomplicated synth, drum machine percussion and metal riffs, and often sounds more like an amateur mixture of Cradle of Filth, Mariah Carey and southern hip-hop than past tracks’ rhythm and cohesive stomp and clap qualities, which can be found in “Crown on the Ground.”

Over the course of the production of the album,  Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss expressed how the album would take a much darker turn, lyrically and melodically, with a heavier emphasis in instrumentation and pulsating rhythms.

Based on these descriptions, I expected a heavier rock-based version of “Crystal Castles,” but instead found myself confused, wondering the record’s goal.

While, indeed, the lyrics have taken a more complex turn, one is not really expecting epic stories or a much deeper personal songbook, considering the starting point contained tracks such as “A/B Machines,” which was nothing more than two verses repeated over and over again.

Musically, the tracks contain a much higher level of production, but its tame sound speaks badly for the work done. All charm gone, it truly is tragic to see a band often defended as “mindless yet fun music” has a total absence of fun.

The crown is on the ground, but it is not a certain thing if anyone will pick it up if you were born to lose.

Radiate Reviews is a weekly music review column. Carlos Sucre-Parra is a DJ at WRGP Radiate FM. Email him at carlos.sucreparra@fiusm.com