Sleigh Bells: Treats

This is going to be a doozy of a record. My musical friends, these kids are absolutely dynamite!

really, really looking forward to this record

Yes. It's going to be a real musical "treat."

has it leaked yet

When it comes out, you could say I'll be there with bells on!!!!!!!

this "thread" is a very very very fine "thread"

I'm tempted to ask who is this thread's tailor.

I don't think I really "get" this band...not trolling, but what is the appeal? The digital distortion just sounds forced and trendy to me. Should I try to give it another chance? If so, why?

^^^^

really like them. their show here is sold out, sadly. and i think it's because people like yeasayer, not because people like sleigh bells.

digital distortion > super half-assed funkadelic rips

To me, they're My Bloody Valentine if they wrote pop songs. Which seems like a pretty radical concept. But the sound wouldn't matter a bit if they didn't have the songs. Based on the demo, they do.

.

ring ring

To me, they're My Bloody Valentine

wow. let's not go nuts, they're basically a grunged-up Ting Tings

i mean they have a bracing, relatively unique sound but all their songs are like two riffs. i don't really see it going too far but i would def catch them live

I see they are in the UK next month, so that is exactly what I plan to do

they played club nme last month. it was indeed pretty ting tings. and not much variety really.

To me, they're My Bloody Valentine if they wrote pop songs.

My Bloody Valentine wrote pop songs.

they're more like My Bloody Valentine if they wrote nursery rhymes and produced loveless with garageband

these kids are absolutely dynamite!

This is slightly worse than Ke$ha.

I dig the few songs from this band I've heard. They take an aesthetic I usually find reprehensible and lazy, and they employ it in service of the song. It's kind of powerful, really.

prediction: when the hype will end - this band will end with it.

the main problem imo is the flatness.

it's bike riding music/driving music! which isnt always great but it feels badass and makes you want to go faster

i am down w/ chillwave in gen. but it is not a subgenre to make **stars**

what do Sleigh Bells have to do with chillwave?

lol "ok"

crown on the ground is nice

Listening to their SXSW set right now, chuckling at the risks of depending so heavily on a laptop when their "software" crashes twice in a 20-minute set.

"Crown on the Ground" is actually the only song I'd even care to hear again.

To me, they're My Bloody Valentine if they wrote pop songs.

My Bloody Valentine wrote pop songs.

― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Sunday, April 25, 2010 8:35 AM (Yesterday)

^ this.

haven't heard much of this band. i've seen more text than i've heard notes, and that's not usually a good sign. is there a song i should start with? i tried listening to some songs on youtube but they were all live an pretty awful.

"Ring Ring" is a great summer jam.

"Crown on the Ground" is good too.

"i've seen more text than i've heard notes, and that's not usually a good sign"

um

yeah i really didn't read that one over before i hit submit.

P4k has a stream of "Tell 'Em" and a link to Sleigh Bells's website w/ a 128 kbps mp3 of it:

http://pitchfork.com/news/38634-new-sleigh-bells-tell-em/

Saw this band in Denver last week. Awful. Terrible guitar tone and some sorority girl headbanging on stage.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKnQZ8uHAw4/S9hiAdhLPmI/AAAAAAAAAmY/Qz6VHEZqN80/s400/tresats452ss.jpg

ring ring is an okay song struggling to do anything w. and awesome sample

ok "tell 'em" is awesome

I don't "get it" either. The MBV parallels are so far off. Is this one of those things that's catching on because it seems so novel? Are they likable for the same reason people think Andrew WK is likable? Fans, talk to me. I don't hate it, but it's like elevator music in the sense that it's so negligible to me.

if you told me that MIA was gonna make a rock song, this is what i would've pictured

Great production, poor melody

It's summery?...is the best way I can put it maybe? I still haven't really figured out what it's doing/why it's doing what it does, but there's little else at the moment that really makes me feel on top of the world. There's both a swagger and a sense of fun and power to it, and it's loud and angular without being anti-catchy. Often noise is used to place a barrier between listeners and material (or it feels that way at least?). The noise and the compression and the fuzz of Sleigh Bells is inviting and raucous.

I'm not necessarily going to argue that it's 'important' - I don't know that they're saying anything or doing anything particularly novel - but if A/B Machines or Infinity Guitars don't make you want to MOVE and bob your head (not headbanging, more like you would when listening to hip hop) and shake your ass, then I'm not sure if anything I write can quantify why they rock.

yeah it's gonna sound enormous in the car

Feels kinda strangely hollow to me, not in a good way. Something about it is very...1991, for lack of a better word, and I mean that in a neutral rather than in a good or bad sense.

Feels kinda strangely hollow to me, not in a good way.

no basslines, right? just kick drums, which is pretty hip-hop.

Could be part of it, but there's also something forced here that, again, I can't put my finger on. It's like it comes close to working but because it doesn't gets really irritating.

at least in the indie world, this record is gonna be huge

Alexis Krauss' former group RubyBlue - girl group pop music circa 2002. Can we mash this up with Crown on the Ground or something?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIvZ5LLFlXU

Despite the awful lyrics, I sort of like that more than Sleigh Bells in a sort of female fountains of wayne way

sort of.

Fans, talk to me. I don't hate it, but it's like elevator music in the sense that it's so negligible to me.

I don't want to talk to you.

This just seems like a logical extension from what Sick Mouthy has been talking about for ages...except in the wrong direction. I really hope this fetishization of digital distortion and ultra-compression doesn't really stick around. Its kinda the same thing with that Dom band...kinda. I think that once people realize this band sucks live, they will hopefully dwindle away.

That Ruby Blue song above puts their live show into perspective for me. I was wondering why she was so lame on stage.

I do like the heavy bass and noise elements to this band. And other than my problems with the vocals, I just wish there was more going on with the guitar. I kept waiting for the dude to do something more–I don't know, a solo, maybe just a fill of some kind? The best part of this band's live show is what comes out of the iPod they've hooked up to the PA.

I've always been really 'pro' this band, like most people, but was taken aback when Perpetua called them "bold" and suggested that other bands "leave their timidity behind in the 00s."

At first I chalked up my allergic reaction to the backhanded belittling of 'bands who aren't Sleigh Bells', but then I read this thread and can better put my reservations into words... To crush a recording like this is a beautiful sound, but it symbolizes one thing alone: expansionism. This beat bangs harder than yours, my amps are louder than yours... I can totally get behind it, this is one fantastic band, but "big" and "loud" don't necessarily mean "bold" to me. I want to hear dozens of records from Sleigh Bells but I hope this won't set a precedent for the next five years of pop music.

holy interlocking Death Stars

i don't think Sleigh Bells will set the precedent for anything, except for maybe a handful of younger bands who they might influence

i'm sure part of their boldness can be attributed to volume & "beat[s] bang[ing] harder than yours," but i think another part can be attributed to how singular this sounds. in the context of indie at least, something like "Tell 'Em" reminds me of last year's Dirty Projectors record, not because it sounds similar, but because what the hell else sounds like this today? not much, i think, at least in the indie world

i think a lot of the "boldness" argument can be attributed to both the volume and the bareness of the songs -- i'm not surprised that perpetua would say something like that considering how much disdain he has for the vivian girls -- there's a confidence in sleigh bells that can serve as a direct antithesis to lo-fi/reverby indie rock & chillwave if you feel like those bands/artists use production aesthetics to muffle underwritten songs

i'm not a fan of lo-fi/chillwave myself but i'm not sure i want to see sleigh bells setting trends either

i think you're mostly OTM, but i wouldn't mind a little more confidence in my indie

i mean, the "confidence" thing is really a slippery slope because it's really a borderline conspiracy theory -- there are tons of indie bands who aren't doing lo-fi/chillwave who don't sound like sleigh bells/don't produce their music like sleigh bells

it's weird tho--sleigh bells isn't this 100% kicking your ass thing--yeah the production is ridic but she still has a really delicate and girly voice. i think that's the contrast they're working with and a "sleigh bells vs chillwave" narrative makes less sense to me

uh except yall r deaf they *are* a chillwave band?

What is this chillwave of which you speak

ok plax, why are they a chillwave band

yeah i don't see that

neither does plaxico

classic sample+lo-fi laptop production "post Ariel Pink" indie. like i dunno how specific the def. of chillwave is that something that incorporates all the elements would be set up as in like opposition to the rest of it. I mean, i feel like this straight up sampling thing still has enough of a novelty factor attached to it in the contxt of Modern Indie that it functions pretty well as a classificatory signifier. also, shit sounds like an aggro washed out.

i feel like chillwave = music you fall asleep to, and sleigh bells is certainly not that

obv its the opposite end of the continuum from like Julian Lynch for eg but i mean

i mean u r deaf if sleigh bells is "chillwave" because they use samples and laptops?

i do think they are pretty lol in a "hey i can't find any dece rips of ur tracks" "no that is our sound" way

sayin they use samples in a lo-fi indie way, that is simple loop, semi-recognisable (the dreams of the passt) w. melody sung on top.

the guy at Sam's club that gives out samples probably has a laptop at home too, so he's also chillwave

BIG LAUGHS aka the joketeller over here

tape store played a song for me off this today and all i could say was "stunning"

they sound like Atari Teenage Riot doing soulless pop

its not like im saying they use guitars so they are rock, they use an instrument in a way that is contiguous w. standard chillwave practice to make a sound that is basically like an slightly bitcrushed vers. of same

i dunno the songs i've heard have way more slammin beats and distorted guitars than some chillwave bullshit but whatev

i think they violate the central tenant of chillwave, which would be "chill"

if glo fi had stuck none of u would b arguing w. me except for ksh

yeah i mean plax you're hearing them structurally not viscerally which is fine i guess but wouldn't be my go-to move in this particular discussion

btw why have i never heard of these ppl before? is this one of those things that i've slept on but rly their whole catalog is great or something?

they are new

oh

don't have an album out yet

i dig this song tho fwiw -- album should be fun, i won't be mad if it's a big indie album this year

ha ramz, their catalog = 3 songs

scared to listen on headphones tho

omg i did this morning! loved it!

i listen to crown on the ground on phones, it's no big thing

"this is sonic the hedgehog on acid in an indie band, i can't not be happy hearing this... seriously ... this could get me dancing at a funeral"

the one i heard is "tell em"

it really grabbed ahold of me!

have listened to wolf eyes on headphones, but i was pretty depressed then.

did these guys have a christmas song out at one point or am i making that shit up

plaxico, i get what you were arguing for above, but chillwave has certain vibe it's going for that's absent from Sleigh Bells . . . so what J0rdan said above, basically

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q77Zu75JtY

so, there's a track called "Rill Rill" on the record, but no "Ring Ring"

1. "Tell 'Em"
2. "Kids"
3. "Riot Rhythm"
4. "Infinity Guitars"
5. "Run the Heart"
6. "Rachel"
7. "Rill Rill"
8. "Crown On the Ground"
9. "Straight A's"
10. "A/B Machines"
11. "Treats"

(http://altmusic.about.com/b/2010/04/29/sleigh-bells-unveil-treats-track-list-cover-art.htm)

also feel like there is a certain inherent disssonance in chillwave, left over from its spiritual forefathers of like ariel pink, panda bear, that these guys are just more explicit abt.

might be clearance issues w/ the "ring ring" sample

hopefully--that song just does not really work

i feel like the spiritual forefathers of sleigh bells are marnie stern & ponytail, and also like... run dmc & salt n pepa

eh maybe, theres no real point having this argument

really, what is the point of anything

I finally listened to like five secs of ring ring and lolllllllllllllllllllllll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY_0QReTPkc

^ oh man, i love that jam so much. used to be on MTV all the time in, like, 98

dude you should check out this remix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUKCQfLY7nQ

looooool

I think they're alright. Novelty wears off after repeated exposure. Marnie/Deerhoof/Ponytail comparisons are otm, plus I guess they seem to me like the next step in indie interpolations of modern R+B, following from the Dirty Projectors, The XX, Hot Chip, Discovery etc.

"the ting tings it's ok to like" still the most otm statement about this band

so what puts them in the "ok to like" category & the Ting Tings in the "not ok to like" category

not nme hype band

maybe because this doesn't sound like the ting tings

(and i like that one ting tings song)

i'm always interested in looking at the factors that lead to the acceptance or rejection of a band by a given group

ksh.xls

ting tings vocals, for one, are way more obnoxious (ke$ha-like, almost)

feelin' like ".xls" is another ILX meme I'm unaware of. care to explain?

so so so so so so so true about vocals xp

ksh.xls is a spreadsheet containing choice quotes and statistics iirc

Bummer that we don't get a 'proper' version of Ring Ring on the album.

I'm with plax on them not being the antithesis of chillwave or all about the 'in yr face'ness of it all. Beach Girls and Ring Ring etc. have a pretty summertime chill vibe in the vocals. I forget who described it as like...bike riding music, but that seems pretty apt to my ears.

(I mean, not A/B Machines or Treats clearly but some of their stuff has a pretty chill vibe to it.)

*Tell 'Em not Treats.

i feel like the spiritual forefathers of sleigh bells are marnie stern & ponytail, and also like... run dmc & salt n pepa

― J0rdan S., Sunday, May 2, 2010 4:16 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

this is otm. i like how juicy and ripe this band is. it's almost to an absurd extent, like how far they go for your satisfaction and enjoyment.

Just saw them open for Yeasayer.

YOWZA. Basically. Louder than on record...new tracks possibly that have massive guitar lines and Alexis just sort of screaming (daintily) into the microphone. She's pure energy, running and shaking and getting in yr face as an audience but kind of coquettish too. By the time their set was over I had sweat through my shirt.

sorry i missed it!

she sounds insufferable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrjueHZpmWQ

They're pretty unbearable to me, imo.

they just sound really shticky to me. unlike Jesus + Mary Chain, or even Raveonettes, their combo sounds totally unnecessary. i'd love to hear Sleigh Bells minus distortion.

eh i think that the fact that the distortion is like lossy low kbps instead of overdriven amps is kinda novel enough to be worth a mention.

Just listening to the P4K best new track now, it is going to sound dated in about 6 months. That doesn't mean they won't make a fun summer album though.

eh i think that the fact that the distortion is like lossy low kbps instead of overdriven amps is kinda novel enough to be worth a mention.

― plax (ico

I see no reason a band simulating what my laptop speakers sound like to be worthy of this much praise.

eh i think that the fact that the distortion is like lossy low kbps instead of overdriven amps is kinda novel enough to be worth a mention.

― plax (ico), Monday, May 3, 2010 11:12 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Just listening to the P4K best new track now, it is going to sound dated in about 6 months. That doesn't mean they won't make a fun summer album though.

― skip, Wednesday, May 5, 2010 7:18 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

Wavves 2010?

rign ring

bananphone

Did this ever even leak? It's out tomorrow.

Maybe not.

Twitter agrees: it's out tomorrow, and it hasn't leaked yet. Awesome.

i am looking forward to illegally downloading and listening to this album tomorrow morning

http://images.philsfiles.info/napster-lars.jpg

;-)

P.S.: Best New Music, 9.2

That's my guess.

Oh man I just heard that youtube of "ring ring".. I don't get what all the fuss is about. What garbage.

van smackdown

If nothing else, pretty impressive that a heavily hyped band can avoid the leak this long. Is it only out digitally tomorrow? That may explain why.

Insound & Amazon have the CD listed for June 22

Pitchfork news update from April 28 says "comes out May 11 via Mom + Pop and M.I.A.'s N.E.E.T. imprint"

The song kicks off Treats, Sleigh Bells' debut LP, which comes out May 11 via Mom + Pop and M.I.A.'s N.E.E.T. imprint.

http://pitchfork.com/news/38634-new-sleigh-bells-tell-em/

Alright y'all, I think jon may be right:

http://twitter.com/MomAndPopMusic/statuses/13742434860

No wonder it never leaked. If you scroll down on the main page of that Twitter account, it says it's out on iTunes tomorrow.

ugh fuck waiting until june

yah wont even be cool by then i mean

The 'Clean' version is on itunes for 6 bucks. but from what i can hear nothing is censored so maybe it was all clean anyway. good stuff thus far, although none of the new stuff beats the original six demos.

P.S.: Best New Music, 9.2

― ksh, Monday, May 10, 2010 9:25 PM (1 hour ago)

That's my guess.

― ksh, Monday, May 10, 2010 9:25 PM (1 hour ago)

I like this game. Best New Music 8.5 -- I'll be damned if they rate it higher than The National, their fav. indie pet band of the last 3 years or so.

dudes, stop please not cool

but imagine you get it right on! what a story thatll be for your grandkids

pitchforkreviewspreviews.tumblr.com

theyll be visiting u in the nursing home or cold storage or w/e they keep old ppl in the future and theyll know that u accurately predicted the ranking of sleigh bells "treats" on the website pitchforkmedia.com to the first decimal place & no u really lived, that u took what life offered and made the best of it (xp)

6.2. Album will grow monotonous to the reviewer because it offers nothing new besides a white girl rapping and a band back-story which nobody truly cares for.

"rapping"

I'm v v excited about this and also expect it to be on this thread in five years: Looking sideways, what's the biggest bullshit, musically speaking, that you fell for in the *10s*

haha otm

album is streaming, apparently

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126667481

8.9? Worth a shot.

Yeah I'm sticking with it.

32m here we go

Kids is amazing!

Production is wonderful, they cleaned up nice

GREAT GREAT GREAT

YAY YAY YAY "rill rill" is "ring ring"!

Oh, awesome.

The bells + putting two tracks of her vocals down on Rill Rill makes a sick song even better. This is amazing.

it feels strange to listen to their music not as five random mp3s

ps is anyone going to their show at ridgewood temple tonight

This blows away any "indie" release I've heard this year, for sure.

Song after "A/B Machines" brings to mind "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," if only because I don't listen to enough music--or am not aware of listening to enough music--using a flanger pedal.

Talking about the first few seconds.

Early contender for album of the year. If not that, will definitely be high up on my list.

Song after "A/B Machines" brings to mind "Boulevard of Broken Dreams,"

Next step: a Broadway play about the album?

Yep.

Special thanks to S4rge & Lamp for making this all possible:

http://pitchforkreviewspreviews.tumblr.com/

the new infinity guitars is amazing..that ending is exactly what the song needed

loool, feel like the first post should be destroyer's rubies @ 10.0

xp

refresh

<3

:-D

Yes! Sleigh Bells rule people!!!!!!!!!!

i love that little panda youve got for the icon
xp

Yes, a nice touch.

Thanks dude! It's the classic ILX jigglepanda.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/WidowOfDestiny/Jiggle_Panda.gif

Best New Panda

important folder review up imo

The version for sale on iTunes has the 'Clean Lyrics' tags all over it. Is it heavily edited?

Instead of saying "B Machines," there's an excruciatingly loud beep and then the word "Machines."

just streamed this and not really my thing. guess I prefer the first sunshine rubdown album for my lo-fi indie pop. oh well

this album kicks booty

oh yeah that new tonetta 777 comp is comin out! cya

lol paste mag already has a review up

i mean, if they wanted whiney to give them a mention in his next twitter conference rant they probably could have just asked

didn't I correctly predict the p4rk score for Carter II down to the decimal place yes i did

*Carter III

Listening to this reminds me of the first few spins of Girl Talk's Night Ripper -- what makes it awesome is what makes it disposable and vice versa.

way into the roller-derby fuzz-pop sound of this so far

and there's definitely a deal sisters sensibility for tune, which is key for me

this is definitely not a headphones album

can't wait for this to show up on "what was the biggest bullshit you fell for in the 2010s" thread in 2020

I don't think I get this.

"Crown on the Ground" makes me think of "Bulls on Parade."

why is it big bullshit?

i dont know. frankly im pretty full of shit, myself

lol best answer possible

(not that i think you're full of shit, just funny)

Is "Kids" the new version of "Crown on the Ground"?

Oh no wait Crown comes later

Kids is the new version of Beach Girls, but takes away all the nice seagull noises :( and tones it down somewhat? Not sure what they did to it, but it's the only demo that isn't IMPROVED by the album.

the bursting/scintillating drums tire a bit by the end of the album. the last track could definitely do without them, at least.

Kids is the new version of Beach Girls, but takes away all the nice seagull noises :( and tones it down somewhat? Not sure what they did to it, but it's the only demo that isn't IMPROVED by the album.

this record rules, but all i want to listen to right now is Paramore. don't sleep on their last record, everyone! it rules

did they remaster crown at all? haven't listened to the demo in awhile but it still feels pretty demo-y

Why would anyone put their crown in the ground? If I had one I'd be sporting it and whacking people on the forehead with my sceptre.

I realise that's kind of the point. It just sounds unprofessional as opposed to 'professionally distorted'

Um, yeah, so this is fucking hot imo.

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

IRL LOL

Mr. Sleigh Moose would like to be incorporated into ksh's review of this album.

On "Infinity Guitars" Alexis Krauss sounds like Andrea Zollo from Pretty Girls Make Graves.

Okay maybe I was too quick to dismiss this, it isn't bad.

So how many reviews are going to mention that this is a relatively short record (little over 30 minutes)

Wrt the Paste review, "You either buy the Brookyln duo’s central conceit or you don’t: bombastic synth-rock for bombast’s sake, with mixing cranked so high your speakers sound like they’re about to combust," I heard this description a lot when listening to the demos ('speakers sound like they're about to combust') but doesn't actually sound right on this album. The distortion is actually much cleaner and easier to pick out -- it's no longer just amorphous static.

Yeah, I think that is exactly why I like this album more than the demos I listened to, the distortion isn't really so muddy and overwhelming. I feel like its used to much greater effect on these tracks.

lol these guys kinda remind me of MCR.

OMG the last 35 seconds of "Infinity Guitars"!!!

paste is the absolute worst music magazine in the world

"Rill Rill" is fantastic.

The album sounds like the soundtrack of a Vin Diesel action vehicle as directed by Sophia Coppola.

paste is the absolute worst music magazine in the world

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, May 11, 2010 2:13 PM (3 minutes ago)

no one cares about Paste iirc, but publishing a challopsy article with the title "Is Indie Dead?" is a really easy way to increase page views and, consequently, ad revenue, b/c there's a segment of people out there who like to blog/tweet/tumblr about stuff like this

― kshighway (ksh), Thursday, February 18, 2010 12:47 AM (2 months ago)

thats what im saying jon that ending is incredible and even better if youve listened to the demo enough times that you sort of take the last 30 seconds for granted

a few xps

A/B Machines sounds a bit weaker than the demo I think, but other than that: YES.

Also, maybe it's just the album cover, but I keep thinking of "Nevermind" while I listen to it.

part of the reason i like this is bc i keep thinking of a LOT of things while i listen to it. it's not as pigeon-holed as it could have easily been.

Really glad I gave this a chance. I'm having a hard time remembering the last time when hearing "polished" versions of demos I pretty much hated managed to change my mind.

this is a fun little album

have a heart, have a heart

have a heart

HAVE A HEART HAVE A HEART HAVE A HEART HAVE A HEART

This's gonna chase me for the rest of the week

sampled ur heart

It's kind of crazy. If someone came up to me and thrust a heart at me and was all HAVE A HEART HAVE A HEART, I'd be pretty O_O

lol

i would be pretty freaked out; who's heart is this dude!

a blogger's

skeptical...

i thought ratatat were kind of bullshit too.

even better if youve listened to the demo enough times that you sort of take the last 30 seconds for granted

OTM. Listened to the album three or four times since last night and it still catches me by surprise!

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

crunk is already for white people

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 was going to write something very similar to this. not feeling this at all.

It'll bee ok.

does this count as lo-fi though, isn't he just using a tonne of some specific type of distortion? recordings seem very quality to me, despite the music being like, loud and crazy.

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.

― kelpolaris

weird that this is so universally received as "indie" rather than pop. like this is the sound of someone bringing confrontational tones & energy to staid indie, rather than bringing indie tones & aesthetics (everygirl vocals, shitgaze sonics) to pop. maybe that's splitting hairs.

plus why wouldn't i like crunk for white people?

Vocals reminded me more of High Places.

I'm not really a fan of their highly completely distorted sound. Is this how they sound live as well?

I mean highly compressed.

Did you do your best today?

I keep reading the title as "Teats." Anyway, I'd love for someone to do one of those audio spectrum graphics things to show how hot/in the red/compressed this thing is. It's permanently set on stun.

xxp not so much. i think they put the tracks on in the background and then play/sing over it, so the compressed/distorted sound is still there but not so prominent.

Someone might correct me about this though, it was crazy up front at the show last night. she's amazing on stage and ended by jumping out into the crowd before coming back to sing Rill Rill solo

I really like "Crown on the Ground," but after listening to the full-length I am done with this band. They are monotonous and after a while get very boring. I like the idea in theory, but when executed, Sleigh Bells are a no go.

sleigh bells - titz

weird that this is so universally received as "indie" rather than pop. like this is the sound of someone bringing confrontational tones & energy to staid indie, rather than bringing indie tones & aesthetics (everygirl vocals, shitgaze sonics) to pop. maybe that's splitting hairs.

this is a good point - musically you can really make a case for either, and i like that. unfortunately, CMJ/stereogum/pitchfork decided this band's narrative within about 5 minutes of their first show.

OK I was closest. Said 8.9! Eat it, ksh!

I said 8.5 -- closest x2, I suppose?

i had privately predicted 8.8 -- it was a pretty easy score to predict tbh -- first VW record got an 8.8 & the xx got an 8.7 -- this is pretty much the same thing

Honestly, this is maybe the first LP in a while where I wasn't even curious what P4K's score/review would be.

With VW or The xx or whoever, their perspective and take on what the bands were doing was something potentially valuable or interesting, but my experience of Sleigh Bells is so visceral and removed from the kind of critical discussion that surrounds other indie bands I listen to that this is 100% irrelevant maybe? Difficult to articulate the reasons for this exactly.

love this idea from jonathan bradley and his sleigh bellsing of "float on" is pretty much exactly why i can't get that into this album http://screwrocknroll.tumblr.com/post/594017675/modest-mouse-float-on-the-saturday-clubs-slay

i had privately predicted 8.8 -- it was a pretty easy score to predict tbh -- first VW record got an 8.8 & the xx got an 8.7 -- this is pretty much the same thing

Except that, well, the xx and VW are both making great music, and Sleigh Bells really don't have the songwriting strength of those two bands.

Is it just me or does Pitchfork shit out 8+ ratings every other day now? Sleigh Bells has an interesting concept and OK execution but Schreiber et al are too smart to actually believe it's album of the year.

My prediction for Sleigh Bells was way off by either a 0.2 or the video of the monkey sniffing it's butt.

OK I was closest. Said 8.9! Eat it, ksh!

― Evan, Friday, May 14, 2010 12:11 AM (8 hours ago)

http://www.lostisagame.com/photos/311/311_you_win.jpg

OK, LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening: 9.0 / Best New Music

I want to see something get a 9.0 and not Best New Music. "This record is incredible, but we don't recommend it."

Nah, it's gonna be a bit lower for LCD this time.

8.6 / BNM

Pitchfork basically lauding Sleigh Bells for being the anti-chillwave:

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.

did i call that or did i call it?

part of the reason i like this is bc i keep thinking of a LOT of things while i listen to it. it's not as pigeon-holed as it could have easily been.

― i fake it so real, i am beyonce (surm), Tuesday, May 11, 2010 8:29 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

So when pitchfork confirms something it officially becomes fact?

^ booming post imo

i don't think that's what surm meant

people come up w/ all these theories & opinions, but when P4k confirms it shit goes metaphysical & you cannot refute the truths irrefutably expounded upon in impeccable HTML before your eyes

youa re the river flow

have a heart have a heart

Sleigh Lolz

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

Results 1 - 10 of about 256 for gaydiohead. (0.28 seconds)

Is it just me or does Pitchfork shit out 8+ ratings every other day now? Sleigh Bells has an interesting concept and OK execution but Schreiber et al are too smart to actually believe it's album of the year.

Really don't care for the this album. It's quite loud and "wonder what your boyfriend thinks about your braces" is such an annoying lyric it makes me want to stop the music by pouring coke on my laptop.

I say we pretend the last month of talking about sleigh bells never happened and we just go back to talking about Vampire Weekend and class signifiers or James Murphy's record collection. start over.

I want to see something get a 9.0 and not Best New Music. "This record is incredible, but we don't recommend it."

There's a hypothetical kind of record this would make sense for -- something that's amazing at what it does, but somehow so specific/niche/inaccessible that you wouldn't recommend it to people in general. "This will be super-awesome to certain people, but don't worry if you're not one of them."

you aret he river flow

h4v3 4 h34rt h4ve 4 h34rt

What's up with albums from dudes formerly in hardcore/screamo bands taking a ride on the Pfork disco stick lately? Dude quits Poison the Well, forms Sleigh Bells with kindergarten teacher = Best New Music. Dude quits American Nightmare/Give Up the Ghost, forms Cold Cave with noize dude and chick from Xiu Xiu = also highly regarded. Are there other examples of this recently?

There's a band named Cold Cave? Another great band name.

Not to be confused with the band Cold, or the band Cave.

Cold, creators of the song hall of fame shoe-in "Stupid Girl"

Loved the reindeer jpeg the first time, even maybe second time, but unless we've decided to imagebomb this thread can we curtail it, k$ha?

Cold, creators of the song hall of fame shoe-in "Stupid Girl"

I prefer to think of Cold as "Stupid Band."

Mordy: sure thing dude.

to ppl who are complaining about how this album will grate after repeated exposure/not end up on eoy lists, can i just say i am way more interested in a record that blows people away on first listen and is so brash and outspoken its novelty wears off than some nuanced indie rock album with really layered production or whatever. getting caught up in exciting fun silly music is a good look, would rather not be the guy scoffing and listening to the national when i could be listening to sleigh bells.

can i just say i am way more interested in a record that blows people away on first listen and is so brash and outspoken its novelty wears off than some nuanced indie rock album with really layered production or whatever

sincerely interested in why you feel this way. could you expand on this, samosa?

less pretentious

not that i feel that way i'm just sayin

umm i just think there's a lot to making novel, head-turning music that people sometimes don't feel is legitimate but imo totally is, primary aesthetic experience and that sort of thing. if the first few times listening through an album are incredible, to me that is super valuable. as much if not more as if on your 15th listen you are still discovering new things and your enjoyment of the songs evolves.

i like albums that grow on you, too, but not as much tbh and i don't have that experience that often anymore.

I HATE THIS GODDADMN BAND

umm i just think there's a lot to making novel, head-turning music that people sometimes don't feel is legitimate but imo totally is, primary aesthetic experience and that sort of thing. if the first few times listening through an album are incredible, to me that is super valuable.

― samosa gibreel

Its OK to just enjoy it now than.

i sympathize with that feeling, i feel like that sort of reevaluatino inevitable with a lot of music. hindsight is maybe a bit overrated anyways, esp in worlds where people continue talking and making ordered lists of albums on forums, sometimes i have to remind myself to get in the moment and not give a shit about any of that stuff and just kick it.

that would work if this was a good album but its not.

definitely loving sleigh bells in the here and now. kinda being careful not to overplay it though, cuz it seems like something that'll fade fast...

I HATE THIS GODDADMN BAND

HI DRUNKY U R MISSPELLING UR WORDS 2 US

Definitely agree with contenderizer w/r/t "being careful not to overplay it." This is definitely a record that I could see myself just listening to again and again so much that I'll buy it, shelve it, and pick it up very rarely after that. If there's one thing to be said about albums that reveal themselves after multiple listens, it's that these records are often ones that can be played again and again, but even there I'll reach this thing where after, say, between forty and seventy listens -- and yes, I've probably listened to some records that many times -- I'll almost never want to hear it again. I've heard, like, Wilco's A ghost is born so much that, even though I love that record, I seldom desire it.

Still, I wouldn't want to live in a world without both immediate, "this fucking rules" kind of records and "reveals itself over time" sort of records too.

Also:

getting caught up in exciting fun silly music is a good look, would rather not be the guy scoffing and listening to the national when i could be listening to sleigh bells.

I agree with the first part of this, and I'm not a fan of the second type of person, but I'm more interested in being a third type of listener myself: the person who can get caught up in "fun, silly music" and "some nuanced indie rock album"--or "some nuanced" any kind of album. Limiting yourself to enjoying one type of record, or privileging one type of record exclusively over all others, is totally boring to me. Not that that's what anyone is calling for here, and not that I don't have many blindspots or proclivities to listen to certain types of music over others.

I find I enjoy being a music listener most, I'm saying, when I'm more open than closed as a listener, within certain boundaries.

I don't know. According to my iPod I listened to Ting Tings' Great DJ 22 times and I'm aware this band kind of suck. I see the same thing in Sleigh Bells.

You must've liked the Ting Ting's jam enough that you listened to it twenty-two times, so your awareness that "this band kind of suck[s]" seems to be more of an awareness that other people think it sucks than your actively thinking the music is bad.

Man, cut the shrink talk. I just don't think Ting Ting is a great band

I'm more interested in being a third type of listener myself: the person who can get caught up in "fun, silly music" and "some nuanced indie rock album"--or "some nuanced" any kind of album. Limiting yourself to enjoying one type of record, or privileging one type of record exclusively over all others, is totally boring to me. Not that that's what anyone is calling for here, and not that I don't have many blindspots or proclivities to listen to certain types of music over others.

― ksh, Saturday, May 15, 2010 12:34 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark

ya i was just responding to people who were all "ugh fad, this won't even be on the pitchfork end of year list," but ilxors are generally pretty cool in this regard. it's a bias you hear in a lot of criticism and discussion that i think is some bullshit, people devaluing immediacy over what i guess they think is maturity and restraint.

people devaluing immediacy over what i guess they think is maturity and restraint.

totally w/ you that this isn't a great attitude to have

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

yeah, to my ears "Ring Ring" is kind of a modernized version of what Adventures in Stereo (the Primal Scream spinoff group) were doing in 1997, viz. layered, girly vocals & twee lyrics over samples of '60s-'70s pop songs. to be fair I don't get that impression from any other Sleigh Bells songs, and stuff like "Crown on the Ground" doesn't register with me as indiepop at all.

xpost

agreed x2, but the opposite attitude isn't much more defensible, i.e. devaluing a record because it's earnest and mature and some list somewhere called it "timeless," and refusing to engage critically with some other record because it makes you smile and bob your head today, in the here and now, man, and who gives a SHIT what it sounds like in six months.

the best attitude is to realize that a lot of great, fun music lacks replay value, and a lot of great, introspective music lacks immediacy. if a record gets low marks in one of the many categories on your music critic checklist, that doesn't mean it can't be pretty awesome.

the best attitude is to realize that a lot of great, fun music lacks replay value, and a lot of great, introspective music lacks immediacy.

OTM

and, sometimes it's the opposite way around too, of course

yeah, I mean if all you ever listen to is sullen singer-songwriter stuff, then the new Nick Drake album might rock your world the first time you hear it, whereas Weird Al's Poodle Hat could be a slow-burner that takes 50 listens and countless hours of poring over the lyrics sheet to reveal its wonders. it's a strange world.

the new Nick Drake album

O_O

oops, I revealed too much. just...forget it for now.

Hey are you guys talking about "Night Ripper" now?

is that a song about the Better Marriage Blanket or something?? O___O

Girl Talk.

is that a song about the Better Marriage Blanket or something?? O___O

― ksh, Saturday, May 15, 2010 9:20 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

haha

night ripper still bangs

still don't think i've listened to it. liked Feed The Animals the one time i heard it

it's a lot better

#2 album on iTunes right now, right after the new National record

btw: http://tinyurl.com/297jw7s

What's up with albums from dudes formerly in hardcore/screamo bands taking a ride on the Pfork disco stick lately? Dude quits Poison the Well, forms Sleigh Bells with kindergarten teacher = Best New Music. Dude quits American Nightmare/Give Up the Ghost, forms Cold Cave with noize dude and chick from Xiu Xiu = also highly regarded. Are there other examples of this recently?

― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor)

wow, weird observation, but OTM nonetheless. i have another one to add: guitarist recently quits daughters, joins up with a little band called fang island. BNM on pfork as well.

#2 album on iTunes right now, right after the new National record

I thought you must have meant on the iTunes "indie' subcategory, but no, you are right. I think this kind of reflects the disparity between people who buy albums via iTunes versus people who buy singles via iTunes. The two charts are SO different.

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/3654-thunder-lightning-strike.jpg

otm

totally

that album's great though

Pretty good! It can get wearing after a while, but it sounds amazing in short bursts. It's great when a track comes up on shuffle, they sound exhilarating then.
"Rill Rill" is my least favourite track by far, I prefer it when they really blow out, like on "Straight A's".

Oh, and "Rachel" sounds like Lush remixed by 2 Unlimited.

Listened to Treats for the first time yesterday - it made me feel old.

shit makes me feel old, and i'm only 22.

It makes me feel young and alive if anything tbh

Which Funkadelic song they 'sample' in 'Rill Rill'?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rrOdcnFbAY

Well, 'Rill Rill' is almost like Soup Dragons doing I'm Free

This is growing on me. A lot.

pretty damn tedious listening, but ill keep on trying

have a heart

Hunt3r you give up on cycling but still trying to listen to sleigh bells? wtf

embrace the change, thats me

Special thanks to S4rge & Lamp for making this all possible:

http://pitchforkreviewspreviews.tumblr.com/

― ksh, Tuesday, May 11, 2010 8:33 AM (3 weeks ago)

We couldn't find the page you were looking for.

Feel free to contact support if there's anything we can help you find.

http://z.about.com/d/landscaping/1/0/F/E/skull_tombstone.jpg

RIP

This feels like the aural equivalent of being kicked repeatedly in the face by a cute smiley videogame character, annoying but oddly fun all the same.

Diplo + AC/DC + Ting Tings

Remember when this record was a big deal? \(^o^)/

lovin u more every day, ksh

Haha. Yeah. Not jamming it 24/7 as much but I still dig it. In part, I think it's 'cause we've had a rainy week or two up here, but the sun is back and so are the riffs.

Still, this might be the first album that people are officially 'over' by the time it gets a physical release.

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/4884/bloggers.jpg

remember zings?

i really dislike the word "treats"

a word much beloved of dogs

it's okay for dogs and dairy queen i guess

real talk: treats is one of my favourite words in the english language.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQNpqH5bKVE

http://www.bigbrothersbigsisters.guelph.org/site-bbbs/media/bbbsguelph/Have%20a%20Heart%20logo.JPG

i haven't even listened to this that much, but it's still one of the best things i've heard this year from indie land

They aren't from Canada...

They aren't from Norway...

You're right Indie-land is Williamsburg.

ok it's just been two days but damned if this isn't the best thing ever

it's like they asked me what my ultimate summer jamz album would sound like and then answered the question better than i ever could

Its a lot of fun, gotta say.

Think I'm gonna go to their show in July

Wheres that.

Boston yo

do it

Hi dere I love this album now!

this is way way way better than the fuckin Caribou record, my friend

why

why...aren't they called Slay Bells?

http://twitter.com/sleighbells

rev i could see you digging sleigh bells

― mr. milquetoast (J0rdan S.), Sunday, May 23, 2010 12:32 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^highly otm post

glad!

still tempted to see them live but I've looked at parts of their performances on YouTube, and I feel like there's the strong possibility their live show will be hella embarassing

no. it's hella awesome. you just need to ditch the self-consciousness and get really into it.

when they opened for yeasayer, the first five-ten rows were freaking out along with them and having a fucking BLAST and the rest of the crowd was skeptically being embarrassed for everyone involved.

I'll give you one guess which of us had more fun.

ok Alex, you've convinced me to probably buy a ticket

The DC show sold out so quick I couldn't get a ticket

yo alex they're playing with die antwoord for pop, eh?

I think my early faves are "Infinite Guitars" and "Rill Rill" and maybe "Crown on the Ground".

http://i50.tinypic.com/2a7blti.jpg

I like every song on this album but "rill rill"

i feel since last summer of the internet putting up anything that "evokes summer," this year there's now so much of the stuff that quality control has gone to shit, and "rill rill" is the one shining beacon of truth and real summer pop

"rill rill" is the only song on the album that i really like

Um...yeah, last I heard, samosa it was w/ die antwoord but then the tour announcement through p4k or whatever had different people listed. unless there are two shows. i'll double check w/ people and get back to you when i'm sober.

Rill rill is like the classic puff daddy definition of not doing anything with a sample and it's annoying to see the indie brigade who dogged puff for "I'll be missing you" get so hard behind it.

Maybe if puff put a "chillwave/anco/summer" filter on the police?

you're still pissed about indie brigade doggings from 1997?

Rill rill is like the classic puff daddy definition of not doing anything with a sample

what's the sample in rill rill?

Funkadelic's 'Can You Get to That'. Sure it's not super-ingenious sampling, but they're completely different songs, so I'm fine with that.

i was not into the demo version of rill rill but i like the final version a lot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rrOdcnFbAY

what a "Rill Rill" ripoff

Okay I get it, this is seriously good. It's so wrackingly heavy yet so sing-song pop!

Masonic Boom would like this if she's around.

glad so many people are liking this. for some reason, i figured there'd be more backlash than love.

not sure why people need more slow loud, distorted mushmouth (albeit with updated drum programming) in their lives, but I have enough of it from the 90s that I can't really throw stones. I mean "rill rill" is the one shining beacon of truth and real summer pop reads like indie crack talk to me, but you know, people were saying that about Olivia Tremor Control probably.

whatever happened to summer pop titans United States Of Electonica?

i think people might be more okay with "i'll be missing you" if it was some dope summer pop like "rill rill" instead of a cheap and overly maudlin tribute to a dead dude

they do like "rapper's delight," though i still think this "dope summer pop" definition for "rill rill" probably has no validity outside a smattering of dorm rooms and williamsburg.

yeah you might be right -- that was personal opinion anyway tho

Pfork went over the goddamn top calling every chillwave song "summer music" are we gonna do this every year now?

Who are these people who have "summer songs." I listen to the same music YEAR ROUND. Just imagining some clown "summering it up" on his porch listening to sleigh bells and drinking a corona in wayfarers makes me want to puke

Pfork went over the goddamn top calling every chillwave song "summer music" are we gonna do this every year now?

― ke$ha in the rye (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, June 20, 2010 3:52 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

this is otm

on the other hand, you can't deny that some music sounds better in the summer! and some in the winter.

not me, I'm bumping Liquid Swords at the beach right now

(or actually bumping Kelis in my bedroom, I should probably get out)

Who are these people who have "summer songs." I listen to the same music YEAR ROUND. Just imagining some clown "summering it up" on his porch listening to sleigh bells and drinking a corona in wayfarers makes me want to puke

it's windows-down driving music and i have no comprehension of ppl who don't change shit up with the seasons

I keep my Pitbull CDs in my shorts because i won't need the former until I pull out the latter

yeah, i don't drive and even when i did, i put on the air conditioner

I keep my Pitbull CDs in my shorts because i won't need the former until I pull out the latter

― da croupier, Sunday, June 20, 2010 2:47 PM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ha

hey, i found call all destroyer!!!

http://www.sunglasses-shop.co.uk/serengeti/press/Alain_Prost_-_Serengeti_Torini_6AJ8201.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m6lymJy57E

wld not complain about being that guy since he's driving a vintage ferrari

Also I swear that opening drum roll from Riot Rhythm is a sample from something..

Also for something with fingers so many RnB or dance pop pies, the guitars on this thing are absolutely epic. Seriously the second half of Infinity Guitars (!!!!) is like head-explode Super AE uber distortion!

Also, this can be my quasi-MIA record of the year, with all the so-so reports coming in of '/\/\ /\ Y /\'

Also, this can be my quasi-MIA record of the year, with all the so-so reports coming in of '/\/\ /\ Y /\'

my very nonscientific impression is that you're overstating the degree of "so-so reports" about the new mia album.

I PREDICT AN 8.8 BNM

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/06/leaked_mia_brings_the_noise_fo.html

Come on it might as well be 'so-so' if it's weaker than Arular or Kala.

mods, please replace the number score in my prior post with whatever rating '/\/\ /\ Y /\' actually gets from p4k.

then please delete this post. thanks.

that link I posted was the saddest thing I read all week :(

actually definitely not...it's just I'm such a believer in her first two albums, and I'm not looking forward to having to defend her when all this backlash to her music comes in.

I PREDICT AN 8.8 BNM

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 20 June 2010 22:31 (Yesterday) Bookmark

7.2

ehhh perpetua can be pretty off. plus he is "reviewing" the crap-quality leak from last week, which seems weird.

Pfork went over the goddamn top calling every chillwave song "summer music" are we gonna do this every year now?

― ke$ha in the rye (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, June 20, 2010 3:52 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Who are these people who have "summer songs." I listen to the same music YEAR ROUND. Just imagining some clown "summering it up" on his porch listening to sleigh bells and drinking a corona in wayfarers makes me want to puke

― ke$ha in the rye (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, June 20, 2010 3:54 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

what the fuck dude

i mean are people no longer entitled to recognize qualities in music, and listen to whatever music they want when they most feel like it? are you just going to be vomiting regardless? these are the questions that i am pondering

also it doesn't mean they don't listen to that shit year round, it's just the finer qualities of some songs are magnified when married to sun and heat and rolled down windows. stuff that's particularly conducive to being loud and outside.

yeah, i don't drive and even when i did, i put on the air conditioner

― ke$ha in the rye (Whiney G. Weingarten), Sunday, June 20, 2010 5:55 PM (Yesterday)

http://www.lifeinmyears.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/snob1.jpg

"there is no such thing as summer music" is the weirdest opinion for a thinks-about-music dude to have, like to the point of wondering whether you are high or something

i do not mean to pile on whiney but contexts conducive to making music even more awesome are totally worth thinking about all the time.

+ the idea that Pitchfork just thought of this last year is like +10 wtf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWXcjYNZais

can i say whiney's horror at "summer song" enthusiasts may be due to overexposure to brooklyn hipsterdom or would that be a low blow like saying someone's respect for all successful songwriters may be due to them being a songwriter

"pick that scab, counselor"

have you ever listened to sleigh bells ON WEED??--the daily show

that's from half-baked, doofus

In one way, this band do sound like nothing else around at the moment. On the other, they represent the culmination of whatever continuum includes Go Team, Crystal Castles, MIA, chillwave, Ariel Pink, Dirty Projectors, My Toys Like Me, Gang Gang Dance etc - anyone maverickly fusing obstrusive rock with pop and/or contemporary r'n'b and/or cheerleader-style vocals. It was only a matter of time till a band like Sleigh Bells would pop up. A lot of opinions here seem to concentrate on the lo-fi/noise production aspect as if this is a brand new thing, but it's not as though overdriven pop hasn't been done many times before - I don't see why it comes as much of a shock (even offence) to so many people. The noise is solid, dry and crunchy and gives a lot of mid-range energy and sparkle to the tracks, which wouldn't be as exciting without it.

Still, I like it, but strictly in small doses. If anything the sonic barrage and lack of bass definitely renders listener fatigue, and trying to get to the end of Treats and what starts as a fairly novel listening experience becomes tiring after five or six songs. Imagine listening to "Alice Practice" 11 times in a row - you just wouldn't want to. If I'm to really give "classic" status to a record, it's got to flow and move and surprise from track to track. As such most of the songs here are about as powerful and intricate as each other - the odd ballad wouldn't hurt right? (lol)

Hints of Marnie Stern too.

The small doses thing is very true for me. Whenever they come up on shuffle I like what I hear, but when I try to play the album straight through its just too much sound barrage and I end up tuning out.

What are the chances this "indie dates r'n'b" thing that's been going on this last six months going to become a proper "thing" - will the two styles get married and create a proper genre, apropos 80s post-punk's bringing together of punk and disco?

the odd ballad wouldn't hurt right? (lol)

OTM. Ring Ring/Rill Rill is the closest thing they have to a slow song, and it's one of the best things on the record. So that's encouraging.

35 minute live show in DC. I guess that's about all they have...

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/clicktrack/2010/07/in_concert_sleigh_bells_at_roc.html

This is the first time I've heard a record that I simultaneously think is really good and feel a little too old to like.

This album is a treat, am I right?

u r right

...but when I try to play the album straight through its just too much sound barrage and I end up tuning out.

― sofatruck, Tuesday, July 6, 2010 6:06 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark

hm.. I would say it works as a whole.
It is definitely one big burst of energy, but it is only 30 mins so it is manageable. You just have to be ready for it I guess.
Either way, the songs are all gems.

It gives me what I think must be the "aural fatigue" I always hear about that is supposedly increased by contemporary sound engineering.

"Who are these people who have "summer songs." I listen to the same music YEAR ROUND. Just imagining some clown "summering it up" on his porch listening to sleigh bells and drinking a corona in wayfarers makes me want to puke"

sleigh bells fans can't afford porches

had my iphone on random shuffle this afternoon and a Sleigh Bells song I wasn't that familiar with came on and it was totally rocking. i liked the album as a whole, but otm to whoever said it is brilliant in small doses

Oddly, this sounds surprisingly not out-of-place when I play it loud on my jeep while driving around Flatbush. I mean, you could quibble about some fine details, but the music doesn't sound *that* unlike a lot of the ultra-distorted whatever the hell it is that I hear all the time, and the vocals would be recognizable to most people as "good" vocals. I suspect that it'd be considered a whole lot more normal than, say, Cheap Trick, at least in my neighborhood.

U live in Flatbush! Are you a chassid?

Wouldn't that be more Boro Park?

there's a big charedi community in flatbush too, but yeah, the bigger one is boro park.

Yeah, where I am I think of it as more Haitian/Trinidad/etc. Sleigh Bells really don't stick out as much as one might think...

entire first run of vinyls is gonna be picture disc!

http://www.insound.com/noteworthy/images/sleighbellspicdisc.jpg

"Who are these people who have "summer songs." I listen to the same music YEAR ROUND. Just imagining some clown "summering it up" on his porch listening to sleigh bells and drinking a corona in wayfarers makes me want to puke"

sounds great, actually, afternoon plans now set

people hating on this should have their american citizenship revoked. riffs! beats!

though i halfway expect to hear zach de la rocha. for some reason.

On the other, they represent the culmination of whatever continuum includes Go Team, Crystal Castles, MIA, chillwave, Ariel Pink, Dirty Projectors, My Toys Like Me, Gang Gang Dance

What the "completely non-existant continuum of disparate and unrelated acts randomly thrown together"? Please for the love of god stop trying to do these Reynolds-lite 'grand historical-cultural sweep' posts, it's getting painful.

An old person writes: what continuum was Brassy in?

(I like Sleigh Bells. Let's not talk about whether I have a pile of Brassy 7"s at the back of the wardrobe.)

like the pitchfork interview a lot -- they seem like really cool ppl, wish i dug their records more

yeah their interactions in that interview were funny.

Masonic Boom would like this if she's around.

― Davek (davek_00), Sunday, 20 June 2010 15:36 (1 month ago) Bookmark

Oh my god you are so utterly shamefully correct.

It's kind of like some Sassy covergirl singing over the top of Justice. (That's where I've heard that super saturated super distorted rip the bass out of everything and just replace it with super compressed distortion sound before)

They do make me want to jump around like Brassy or Le Tigre to be honest. Wanna make a mixtape that segues this between My Metrocard and Hot Topic (Is The Way That We Rock) with some Marnie Stern to round it out. I eat this stuff up with a damn SPOON.

If someone had told me to listen to this 4 months ago, mind you, I would have told them to fuck off.

It really is best to let the initial hype pass you by sometimes.

Wish I could get this in pill form, for really bad cases of PMT.

Infinity Guitars is kicking my ass this morning. The neighbors downstairs hate that I love this album so loudly.

I really love the tracks on this where they sound like a dance version of Lush

i liked this briefly and then got annoyed.

i like this album teats

still like this

I think the thing I like the most about this is the relentless onslaught aspect of it (also the shoegaze vocals)

it is very much "Ting Tings + funhouse mirror" but there are worse ideas for a band

it is good walking-to-work music

OTM, it's really good first thing in the morning if you're still feeling slightly dopey.

I really love the tracks on this where they sound like a dance version of Lush

Yup.

Oh, and "Rachel" sounds like Lush remixed by 2 Unlimited.

― DavidM, Thursday, 27 May 2010 10:44 (4 months ago) Bookmark

Still got love for this LP.

I like the album because it's so short I can practically listen to it twice on my morning commute. I'm still enjoying it obviously.

"You take a heart I can take out you"

yeah it is just kinda relentless & energetic & doesn't let up, total playground vibe. But like the cool big sister you always wish you'd had who comes in the playground and if any big boys are bothering you she beats them up for you.

Singles Jukebox reviewed "Infinity Guitars". Good discussion in the comments about what age group Alexis is targeting: adolescent or pre-. (Well, I thought it was interesting, but I was participating.) Love the album; Alexis is pretty hot in the video.

i liked this briefly and then got annoyed.

― thebingo2010 (chrisv2010), Tuesday, 19 October 2010 17:38 (3 days ago) Bookmark

OTM. Like Salem, the initial ear-tingle gets spread very thin on repeated listenings.

is it just me or is "Infinity Guitars" a totally baffling single choice?

i've heard two versions of it -- there's one on youtube that doesn't have the big bass freakout in the second half.

... I kind of don't see the point of the song without the big bass freakout at the end!

Maybe I'm just being a big shoegazy blouse but I would have picked "Run the Heart" as the next single (well actually I would have picked "Rachel" so yes I am totally being a big shoegazy blouse because that song would have been just as weird a choice as "Infinity Guitars", if for completely different reasons).

I also say this because I'm assuming "Rill Rill" was at least put out as a promo track.

Treats is nice if you feel like listening to both Katy Perry and Gojira, and you don't want to have to choose.

several weeks of exposure to this album is making more used to the idea of "Infinity Guitars" as a single

still totally infatuated with "Run the Heart" and "Rachel" tho

Has anyone else got bored of this record yet?

nope! still love it

haven't played it terribly often, but i pulled it out today for a spin and it still intrigues

I like it more now than I did early on.

i dont listen to it these days but i know id still like it if i did

^ important thread contribution

markers u should make a year-end list, buddy

yeah man, I think I will, but it's going to have to be a tracks list, because my listening this year has been so ADD and defined much more by the radio and individual tracks rather than whole albums listened to front-to-back

word

in 2011, I will attempt to resuscitate my attention span

Just listened to the two members of this band being interviewed by BBC6 - they are by far the most uninteresting people I've ever spent listening to for over ten minutes. The band seems to thrive on it's "hardcore boy meets school-girl" routine, as after reading month's of reviews trying to convince myself that this is a good album I've yet to encounter one yet that does not somehow remotely stick this into it's context.

school-teacher, not school-girl. My mind is suffering from private internet withdrawal.

"Run The Heart" is definitely making my list of favorite songs from 2010; everything about it just WORKS for me.

Yeah, I have done a near-complete 180 on this band since April, this is a really enjoyable record.

I think keeping the songs short really works in their favor; they're all just long enough to get the idea across, and then they end before they start dragging

This is very true, plus the album itself is like the perfect length for this sort of thing. I think "Rachel" is really the only mis-step.

oh but I love "Rachel", it's the song on the album where the vocals sound the most like Lush

Maybe I need to give it a few more gos, considering how long it took for some of the other songs on here to really catch me.

so glad someone for the top 77 song thread and nakhchivan for suggesting these guys/this album to me.

this is exactly what I was looking for. something noisy, rhythmic, and with pop sensibility. and it's a short listen to boot so no getting burnt out.

idk im pretty burnt out on it

Took forever for me to get past the sound of it (or, more accurately, the purposely poor recording of it). But once I did, I really got into it. Still haven't overplayed it or anything, so it'll probably stay fresh for a while.

entirely expected myself to burn out on this stupid album but half a year later i still think it's beautiful.

lol @ having that entire massive noisy/rhythmic recommendations thread, then for the #1 satisfying answer to be sleigh bells

i don't tend to burn out easy as I go through 10 new albums a week these days, so at most I get 2-3 listens in of any one thing in a week

lol @ilxor well it was mostly cuz I actually thought nakh's answer was a joke answer cuz it was lowercase, and not the name of a group (it is a pretty ridic name)

xpost by 'new' i mean 'new to me'

no worries, i think it's good stuff!

Took forever for me to get past the sound of it (or, more accurately, the purposely poor recording of it). But once I did, I really got into it. Still haven't overplayed it or anything, so it'll probably stay fresh for a while.

― Johnny Fever, Thursday, January 27, 2011 4:01 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

i was on the cusp of having burned out on treats a while back, so i deliberately shelved it for several months in order to preserve the last drops of freshness. listened to several tracks this afternoon after saying on the 2010 tracks poll thread that i wasn't so into it anymore and was surprised to find that i still loved almost everything about them. it's like candy: easy to get sick of, but amazing if you haven't had any in a while.

they done a pop video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP_ChuxYg8o

thx for the youtube, everywhere else is featuring the unavailable-in-the-UK MTV one.

I saw them last week and had a huge amount of fun, unsurprisingly their thing works well when delivered exuberantly and at an unspeakably high volume (sure it's a bit of theatrics as much as anything, but four Marshall stacks is still pretty O_O ).

I was vehemently anti-"SLAY" bells, and still am in regards to their hit singles . And I won't start this off by the "shock-twist" that, surprise, now I'm a fan! I'm not. But A/B machines probably was one of my most listened to tracks last week... I cannot deny they have an ear for (slightly trashy) upfront melody.

p.s. that video is absolutely horrible

p.p.s like tennis, they are another band that infuriates me w/ it's "boy meets girl in unusual way" story. gimme a break.

p.p.p.s of that kit kat bar

every individual part of that video is so potentially cool and then none of them have anything to do with each other and just fall into a jumbled pile of arch badass signifiers. still <3 these guys tho.

so in other words it's a typical music video

Hate this band, hate this video

so in other words it's a typical music video

i'm a utopianist

solitary car travels thru desert while actor plays with wind. i'm not even sure how many music videos i've seen that in and think it deserves its own thread.

I mean these guys are so much about image sometimes that it makes me want to choke myself. They have always seemed to me like the type of band a bad comic book writer would come up with.

lol what

Like, "Oh right, perfect here: pretty girl who sings nice but wears LEATHER JACKETS AND SHIT matches up with totally sensitiveemobro who can play guitar REALL LOUD YO. They totally should be playing in the scene where Terry fights those bad guys in Batman Beyond. INFINITY GUITARS WHOA_OH_OH"

Wait was Batman Beyond even a comic book?

so this is basically about "why don't you ever buy that Heavy Metal Shop hoodie, dude?" with the answer being "idk, but I still love you lots SLC" with a secondary theme of "hey, Alexis is looking super hot here." in other words, a very good music video.

d of d maybe you should just work on listening to music and not worrying what ppl are wearing?

You're totally on-point, just cracking wise. Musically, I just can't seem to get incredibly excited about these guys ever-- I like "Rill Rill" well enough but compared to how others hold it, I just find it unremarkable. I dunno, it seems like the sort of thing I'm totally surprised to see popular but at the same time not at all.

Generally, I take a "glad people can still make money off of music, at least" stance with these kind of artists when I'm not drinking (I am), so I guess you could assume that's my true "heart of hearts" take.

first time i heard rill rill it was a total O_o moment. i couldn't figure out why a segment of a summer relaxation album you can buy at bed, bath & beyond and set on infinite loop was being heralded as one of the greatest songs of the year. the song needs some kind of arc, *something* to make things interesting and the last 45seconds as worthwhile listening as the first 45. it's just the same thing, monotonous after the initial appeal has waned.

d of d maybe you should just work on listening to music and not worrying what ppl are wearing?

idk abt any1 else but this seems like a p joyless thing to say to me. abt as conservative as saying we all start buying sheet music instead of dling singles.

xpost you can buy Maggot Brain at Bed, Bath and Beyond?

i was gonna say!

idk abt any1 else but this seems like a p joyless thing to say to me. abt as conservative as saying we all start buying sheet music instead of dling singles.

― plax (ico), Friday, January 28, 2011 4:19 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

well i think ppl find remarkably joyless ways to dismiss music on non-musical bases so

abt as conservative as saying we all start buying sheet music instead of dling singles.

― plax (ico), Friday, January 28, 2011 1:19 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

no really, writing music/people off cuz they're dressed wrong = the apex of pinched, joyless conservatism, no way around that

lot of joylessness going around

fair cop, haven't had any coffee yet

http://image.blingee.com/images16/content/output/000/000/000/53f/406315167_861377.gif

^^^ SLAY FUKKIN BELLS!

idk i just this its a small step from this to dismissing everything that isnt "the music" and then its like well why do bands bother dressing certain ways and developing an artwork aesthetic etc. etc. etc.? i mean ppl talk about how a song finally clicked when they saw the music video so theres always more involved than just to the sound of the music itself and to say otherwise strikes me as a kind of pop greenbergianism

yah that's fair and it's something i could deal w/coming from you (bcuz i know you know what youre talking about) but in general if ppl want to go there i'm going to tell them to step their game up yknow?

like, if the post i was responding to was coherent i would not have said that

lol hi-5

:)

in general if ppl want to go there i'm going to tell them to step their game up yknow?

yeah this. "lol u think ur so cool, u wear a leather jacket rock n roll lol," is such a cheap dismissal. not saying that style is irrelevant, or that we should hear the pure music in isolation or w/e.

stepping it up to heaven in 2011

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_mZ4x5p0sAZc/S9_wDfihBiI/AAAAAAAAErc/R_-Keabg0lw/s1600/meist2.jpg

we did a remix of this, pretty well-received, many hearts on hypem, plenty blog interest etc. have a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THS46-kU6FI

320 here http://soundcloud.com/clubclique/sleigh-bells-rill-rill-clique-newtrends-remix

Almost can't believe I bought tickets for them considering I ragged on them so much a year ago - but they definitely grew on me. I've been trying to figure out what steps in evolution were necessary, but really it just came to that one day I found myself liking them way, way more than I used to.

Anyway, saw them last night here in Denver. They definitely know how to give a fucking performance. YouTube videos seem to give off a bit of sloppiness - it didn't even seem remotely apparent here, the songs were so perfect at times I was wondering if the guitar was just sampled as well. I'm not VERY familiar with Treats, but I'm pretty sure they played a newer song... that was just OK. It was faster than anything I've heard from them, but really lacked in a clear melody - the type that defines so much of their other work.

Me and and Alexis made eye-contact so many times I'm kinda confused as to why I'm on ilxor right now and not sleeping in her tour bus. It sorta helps that I was the tallest person in a roomful of excessively exuberant 16 year olds.

If anybody else sees them, could you tell note what they were wearing? The same plaid jacket Derek is seen in in a hell of a lot of promo pictures he wore here. Alexis had on a Sleigh Bells jersey - which also retailed at the front - and made me realize was one of the most ingenious marketing "strategies" I've ever seen. Girls gobbled that shit up, it seemed like everyone had one by show's end.

Played in Neighbours this week too!

I had been thinking this band had completely worn out its welcome with me but I've been listening to Treats today and it really is just that their albums have been getting worse as they've gone along.

yup

I feel like with every iterative release they seem to be saying "this didn't work so well on the previous album, let's take that and make it the cornerstone of the songwriting for the next one!"

first album felt really spontaneous, tons of ideas, seemed to exist with no expectations. second album tightened things up a bunch because they were getting big. third album reveals that the tightening up made them pretty boring.

The best thing about them was always their looseness. Felt like they made more SONGS and fewer tracks with each successive record which is obviously their prerogative but the visceral excitement wasn't just the noise and the redlining it was the beats and the dancier elements?

I mean I guess they were never dance properly or beats driven but onTreats the guitars weren't deployed as guitars but as rhythm and propulsion and a bunch of other stuff. After that they became more traditionally deployed? But it's been a while since I've listened to the newer stuff so I could be wrong.

Basically I guess I'm just saying that when Treats came out it made sense that MIA was signing them to NEET and getting them to produce a track for her and after that it really didn't?

It's kind of a bummer how they started out doing a Thing that felt, if not new, very individual and have spent each album making that Thing more boring

this record started edm t/f

new record is their best since the first. varied, assured, the hooks finally match the bluster. it does sound a little stitched together through email attachments but i'm less bothered by it the more i listen

I am surprised by how clear her voice is and how assured it is, and I am confused that I'm reacting to it as if it was a bad thing.

that was how i felt about half of bitter rivals

"i can't stand you anymore" is such a jam

Revisiting albums from the 2010-2019 as is usual at the end of every decade and I did a 180 turn on this one. I hated it so much when it came out, but nowadays I think the red level aesthetic and their commitment to it is actually impressive, regret not partying to this one back then as I had the chance and even saw them live... I was on the wrong side of history. They never made anything half as good as Treats though.

treats was a v special album

No, Reign of Terror is actually phenomenal. I much prefer it. I'm kind of disturbed how bad these guys got afterwards. I'm not sure what happened. I guess the band couldn't adapt to their own ambitions, which never seemed especially clear.

Come think, surprised Lynch did not feature them in season 3. Maybe not his palette. I viewed all his featured his bands as in some way a force of Americana, which Sleigh Bells obsessively are.

I still play "Run the Heart" a lot. Reign of Terror as an album doesn't work for me but you can pull an A+ EP out of with "Comeback Kid", "Demons", and "Never Say Die"

still sad the entire music ecosystem didn't rearrange itself to sound like treats

With you 100% there.

I could never get into this group, which is weird because I absolutely love Andrew WK and The Go! Team, and this kind of fits in a nexus between those. On the other hand, I could also describe that last Crying album in a similar fashion, and I loved that.

I admittedly resented them upon first contact for reasons beyond me. I think seeing them live zilched whatever concerns floated. The bass was so thick at the concert I was at I ran experiments on my jaw to see whether I could feel it in my teeth.

top ten album of the decade imo

It's way up there. The follow-up is highly underrated too.