They’re shooting for loud, noisy (read: Sleigh Bells-y) R&B, which is not a bad impulse in and of itself, especially since experimenting with modern R&B is the hip thing for indie bands to do right now (Katherine St. Asaph compared “Comeback Kid” to Mya on Popdust yesterday, which is apt). In order to get there, though, they’ve sacrificed much of the exclamatory and experimental power of their early stuff. Good R&B takes nuance and a certain sense of intimacy (which is why vocals are often close-mic’d and melismatic), traits you definitely wouldn’t associate with this band. So yes, credit Sleigh Bells for at least trying to work their way to a sound that’s more ‘mature’ and more widely accessible…
…But none of that changes my original sense that it’s just not working. I find it disheartening that both songs they’ve put up from the album are built exactly the same way. That’s part of what I mean when I say their idea of a song is getting narrower. Ever hear the old demo version of “Kids,” called “Beach Girls?” There was barely any guitar on it, but it was still warped and overdriven. It rode that same line that “A/B Machines” and “Crown on the Ground” did between extreme, catchy bounce and ear-splitting audio assault. The ‘riffs’ on those songs sounded as much like fire alarms as they did music, which to me was the most fascinating thing about them. It was as if Sleigh Bells were simultaneously celebrating and pointing out the painful lunacy of big, bright, shiny sounds. Listening to the two new songs, pleasurable though they may be, it becomes apparent that they’re no longer interested in exploring those boundaries. Bubblegum verse-chorus-verse songs need more room to breathe than they’re being given and hardcore thrashing becomes boring when it’s lashed to such linear structure. I wonder if there’s some other aspect of pop—some untenable sense of attitude—that was embodied in their best work instead of the form of pop we get here. I’m sure lots of people (myself included, maybe) will enjoy Reign of Terror for what it is, but it’s disappointing to see them aim so squarely for a middle ground they’re not even well-suited to.
3 Notes/ Hide
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