Sleigh Bells ring. And whirr. And stomp.

Photo by Kristin Ross SXSW 2010In early May, when I first heard Treats, the new album by Sleigh Bells, I commented on Twitter: “If the National speaks of our ennui, Sleigh Bells speaks of our party.” After repeated listens, this still stands. This album rages and it rages hard.  It’s the perfect contrast to the mega-downer High Violet, though that’s not to disparage the National. (Let the record state that I love High Violet.) They’re two sides of the same coin; two different moods of the current zeitgeist.  When the National are in my headphones, I want to buy a bottle of wine and weep gently into my carpet.  When Sleigh Bells is in my headphones, it obliterates my thoughts other than “fuck yes.”  One album for the world-weariness and one album to bring back the optimism and I’m sitting comfortably in the middle.

The beginning of every Sleigh Bells song amps you up.  It’s exciting and you are excited by it. This is precisely what it was made to do. This music even makes typing dynamic.  When Alexis asks, “Did you do your best today?” on the opening track of Treats, the appropriate answer is “fuck yes I did.” All of these cuts will punish your speakers; this production is not kind. It’s unapologetically loud and intentionally left that way. Shit is dirty.  Again, this is precisely what it was made to do.

Submitted evidence #1 : “Riot Rhythm.”

About 70% of the people I know will hate this song, but I can’t get enough of it. I’ve been listening to it about three times a day, probably because it happens to segue into “Infinity Guitars.” I assure you, you’re not ready for this.

Submitted evidence #2 : “Infinity Guitars.”

Listen to everything shaking! That is how you know some shit is going down!

Sleigh Bells aren’t trying to revolutionize lyrics, but there is a simplicity and clarity that’s totally refreshing. At SXSW, where some of the soldout team got to experience this hurricane live in person, we talked about “tweetable songs.” If you can quote a song in less than 140 characters, there’s something markedly charming about that. There are phrases here just waiting to be plucked out of the fuzz and Derrick’s unrelenting guitar.

They have a soft side, too, as displayed on “Rachel” and “Rill Rill,” but it’s just not as interesting to me and the latter song has moments where it sounds like Sublime melted and run through a sieve. I’m happy to move on to the screech and thump of “Crown on the Ground.” I’m having a tough time expressing how energizing this stuff is, because I think it hits a neural receptor that not everyone has. If you do, it just hits there and you know it.

The album is taken out by “A/B Machines” and “Treats,” another double wallop (like the “Riot Rhythm and “Infinity Guitars” pairing).

Submitted evidence #3: “Treats”

Here we come to the part where I wish I could have a sufficient way of conveying the booms of this song into words, but I can’t. Sleigh Bells isn’t really about what Alexis is doing, it’s about the boot stomp of Derrick’s guitar. I can only partially understand what she’s saying in this song, but it doesn’t matter. The whirr whirr whirr is what matters.

Yeah. Sometimes it is just the whirr whirr whirr that matters.

I leave you with this handy reference on where to place your A and B machines, by Russ Marshalek: