Tuesday, June 1, 2010

record review: Sleigh Bells - Treats


Being a fan of (good) music, I am always flabbergasted when there is buzz about unsophisticated albums. Needless to say, Treats by Sleigh Bells pushes all of the wrong buttons, bringing us one step closer to the big red nuclear annihilation one. If I wanted to hear an amateur rendition of what some hipsters think noise rock means, I’d rather listen to an electric drill remix some gun shots. At least then, I’d get some nice visuals while beating my eardrums senseless. Tracks like “Riot Rhythm” and “Infinity Guitars” have horribly misleading titles, because their names are too cool for what they stand for—terrible mashups of overstimulated beats desperately struggling to be crunk. Treats is doused in muddled production and could only be rivaled by an aneurism induced by scratching your fingernails against a chalkboard for 32 minutes. The Brooklyn duo clumsily mixes fuzzy with clean and then cranks up the volume to an unforgivably deafening madness. Guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss have managed to out-shit M.I.A, and that’s saying something. There is no rhyme or reason to listen to this album, except if you’re some sort of crazed musical masochist.
1/5

5 comments:

Murphey said...

Sorry you didn't like it; it wasn't AOTY material for me, but I enjoyed it. You might wanna check out Childish Gambino's I AM JUST A RAPPER Mixtapes for some interesting takes on Sleigh Bells songs.
childishgambino.com

Amanda said...

Oh, thank goodness. I tried. I honestly tried, but I just wasn't getting why it was supposed to be good.

jimjam said...

i like it. its like fast food musice for when you just want to hear something crass and simple. its like speedcore.

Unknown said...

Ouch!

Charles! said...

You and Pitchfork contrast so sharply.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?!?!