Sleigh Bells - Treats

The internet has been ablaze with Sleigh Bells of late, and after spending the past 3 or 4 days with their debut, Treats, I can say the hype is completely understandable. The boy/girl duo combine the hardcore background of guitarist Derek Miller with the girlie-pop origins of vocalist Alexis Krauss to create an abrasive form of pop music that kicks a lot of ass. They first caught my ear last October when a few of their songs (including “Crown On The Ground”, which is revisited here) began circulating after their CMJ shows. Since then they were picked up by M.I.A.’s N.E.E.T. label and have been quickly building “next big thing” status ever since. Treats finally arrived last week and is quite the first impression - as if M.I.A. herself were recording with Deerhoof. Stereogum shared leadoff track “Tell ’Em” the other day, which you’ll find a link to below, but the showstopper for me, the song that forced me to hit repeat 3 times in a row my first time through the album, is “Rill Rill” (watch this), formerly known as “Ring Ring”. I haven’t heard a more immediate, more exciting pop song since “Paper Planes” exploded back in 2007. Throughout these 11 songs, Miller’s riffs pierce the ears while mimicking his classic rock heroes, the beats slam with an unnatural crunch, and Krauss’s vocals display a confident, sexually-charged vocalist capable of carrying the songs, but willing to be just one part of a better whole. Treats is an album that’s sure to be divisive - it’s “of the moment”, it’s distorted, M.I.A. tweeted about it, and, like Times New Viking, it’s just recorded so fucking loud. But it’s also 2010’s first great debut, has one (maybe more) of its best singles, and is stacked with unbridled joy. Dig in:

MP3 :: Tell ’Em (follow link to Stereogum)
(from Treats. Buy here)
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