Alright, so I've taken a few weeks off. First there was the vain attempt to try and write a 50,000 word novelette in 30 days. Add to that my band's search for a new drummer, getting a new job, and the general craziness of the holiday season, and time for blogging has been scarce.I know, I know. Excuses. Still, I've tried my best to keep up with the local band reviews; I hope you've enjoyed reading them, and maybe discovering some new bands along the way. By the way: keep the local material coming, boys and girls. I'll have a review of a Durban Poison 7" up in a few days, so if you're a DP fan, stay tuned for that (I hope it'll be as fun to read as the record is to listen to).
For my triumphant return to commercial reviewingness, I have chosen the new LP from Sleigh Bells. Who are Sleigh Bells, you ask? Just some new band trying to cash in on the titular success of Broken Bells? Nay, they're a duo from L.A., and quite the odd couple at that: Alexis Krauss (no relation to Alison Krauss) sings and, before the group's rapid rise to prominence, was a kindergarten teacher. In her teens she was part of a campy pop supergroup Rubyblue. Derek Miller plays guitar, and used to blow eardrums as part of a hardcore band, before waiting tables in LA en route to being a rock star.
It's the kind of thing that pisses struggling musicians like me right off: two people get together, mostly on a lark, write some pop songs in their living room, then get famous a couple of months later when the demo somehow ends up in the hands of MIA. Yeah, that's right, the MIA. The one that sings pregnant and preaches Sri Lankan independence.
That's the tabloid story, anyways. What you probably don't hear is that the tape ended up in MIA's sweaty little palms probably as a result of Miller's hard-won contacts from years of slugging it out on the hardcore circuit. Rarely does anything come easy in the music biz, and I doubt that Sleigh Bells is any exception, despite their "overnight success" facade.
So what do we make of this little record of theirs? Is this unlikely formation going to have a happy ending, or is this another example of a major-label artist trying to use their name and reputation to prop up a sentimental favourite? It's tough to say with Treats, a wildly inconsistent offering that speaks to the duo's promise, but also reveals some severe shortcomings.
The first comment I had about this album after popping it into my stereo--and this is before reading up on the band and learning that MIA had any association with Sleigh Bells a'tall--was "wow, it sounds like MIA is singing." I thought maybe she was guesting on vocals, but that would be strange on the first track of a (noisepop) rock album. No, it seems instead that whoever was engineering this track simply selected the "Make it sound as much like MIA as humanly possible without MIA actually singing" setting on his/her channel strip. And why not? MIA's unique vocal delivery and vocal processing have set a modern pop diva bar, in much the same way Madonna redefined the sound of female pop vocals for decades. Still, after learning about her direct involvement in this record, it seems strange. I can't think of another example of a musical powerhouse crafting another act in his/her image.
What's that you say? Theory of a Deadman?
Oh, right. Nevermind.
By no means is this as much of a travesty as the injustices committed upon us by 604 Records. But the album does feel at times kind of like MIA's attempt to recruit like-minded musicians, in some weird genre-building effort.
And that's perhaps the biggest problem I have with Treats. It never really feels like their own record. Alexis Krauss' vocals are so layered with pop sheen and disco nonsense that I couldn't tell you if she's the world's greatest singer, or its shittiest. And Derek Miller's guitar playing, while inspired in places, fails to really blow me away at any point. At times the FX work is pedestrian: yes, harmonizer pedals are cool, but if you rely on them to make a song's hook interesting, you're probably not going to make it to any year-end lists any time soon.
For something that labels itself pop, there really isn't nearly enough hooky riffing going on. There's a lot of staticness to the riffing, a lot of the same thing repeated, re-repeated, and then run through a noise generator to try and make it interesting. This might work at the club, but in the comfort of my living room I felt like throwing something at my stereo.
Good thing I like my stereo substantially more than this record.
So that's the bad, what about the good? I did say that the album was promising, didn't I? Well, at times this album kind of kicks some ass. Kind of. Track 4, "Infinite Guitars," is one of the catchiest, and downright badassiest songs I've heard this year. Krauss gives up moaning like an unspayed cat in heat (there are a lot of random sex moans on this album, did I mention that?) to actually do something worthwhile with that pretty little voice of hers, and quite ironically, it is interesting because her delivery in this song isn't pretty at all. Instead, she snarls her lines in such a way as to do the vocal distortion justice. I have no idea what she's snarling about (something about drunk girls?), but it sounds wicked.
The titular track, and the album closer, "Treats" is another track that appealed to me. The first 8 bars will remind you of Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," which should have you running for the stop button, but fear not: they manage to do something interesting with the track despite this unfortunate sonic similarity. I feel that it is in this mixture of traditional rock arrangement, with the ever-present dance beat, and Krauss' pop vocals, where the band finds its stride. Their tracks may wind up being more pop than anything else, but in order to succeed, this band will have to find away to implant a rock and roll heart into what they write. This is definitely not always achieved on this record.
It speaks to the monotony of this album that even after multiple listenings, the only two tracks that I can really remember the melody of are the ones I highlighted. I have some general ideas in my head of what the other ones are like, but though I've heard them many times, they do little to stand out. Bits and pieces remind me of what I don't like: processed, affected vocals that do little to impress upon the spirit; directionless, hookless guitar playing that sounds like some guy discovering his pedalboard for the first time; If this band dropped off the face of the earth, I wouldn't be disappointed, and if they came to town I doubt I would go see their set.
And even yet, if they were to release another record? I dunno.
I just might buy it.
