FRESH BAKED
Sleigh Bells
Treats
2010 | Mom + Pop/N.E.E.T. Recordings
A

The internet hype-cycle can be a fickle thing. Either you live up to the acclaim like The Strokes did back in 2001, or you don’t and get completely screwed over like the Black Kids a few years ago, or you just find yourself perpetually trapped in the blogosphere like, well, most bands. It’s been less than a year since Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells found themselves in this world after playing a handful of breakout shows at last year’s CMJ and releasing a five-song demo that seemed to make its way to every corner of the internet. Throw in two national tours opening for Major Lazer and then Yeasayer, and signing to M.I.A.’s N.E.E.T. Recordings, and the buzz surrounding the group’s debut, Treats, grew to a fever pitch—not to mention the fact that before it’s online release on May 11, the album had miraculously not even leaked.

Treats is loud and relentless—thirty-two minutes of non-stop, in-your-face, cranked-to-11, ear-drum-shattering noise pop. Derek Miller’s guitar screams wildly over hammering 808 beats and claps, creating a hurricane of sound that provides the perfect foil for Alexis Krauss’ blissed-out voice that’s still got just the right amount of bite. And while much of the charm on Sleigh Bells’ demo was the bedroom-production values, getting into a studio has been far from detrimental. As producer, Miller has given the re-recordings of demo songs new life: “Kids” (formerly “Beach Girls”) is tighter and more powerful, its once drawn-out synths now staccato punches; and “Infinity Guitars” retains its Spartan, lo-fi glory until the last forty-seconds when the volume gets kicked up a few notches more, ending in a pounding whirlwind of noise and distortion.

More on Sleigh Bells | Treats

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Someone Decided a Sleigh Bells/Weezy Mash-Up Was a Good Idea; We Bring You “Fireman on the Ground,” Which is Terrifyingly Abrasive. Elsewhere, Check Out Our Pictures of Sleigh Bells Playing Our October Feature Show [Prefix]

Stream Brooklyn’s Crystal Antlers Covering Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Which Is Great In a We-Sound-Like-High-Schoolers-Covering-Dylan Kind of Way [Fader]

Your Favorite Post-Collegiate, Post-Ironic, Afro-Bombastic Pop Band Vampire Weekend Announce Winter US Tour; Contra, In All It’s Fantastically Despised Glory, is Released January 17; Elsewhere, Stream New VW Track “Cousins,” Which I Despise Fantastically [NME]

King Khan and BBQ Show Issue Statement About the Band’s Arrest; All Interested Parties Remain Unphased and Unsurprised by Fact that These Guys Keep a Good Stock of Shrooms in Their Tour Van [Pitchfork]

Stream New Beach House, “Norway,” off the Upcoming LP Teen Dream, Released January 26 (I Know, Usually, at the Very Mention of Beach House, I Would Imply How Boring They Are. But, This Song Quite Gorg……. – Whoops, Fell Alseep Again (Kidding, It’s Really Good) [Gorilla vs. Bear]

Watch Possibly Seizure Inducing Video For Beyonce and Lady Gagas’ “Video Phone;” I Know You’ve Always Wanted to See Beyonce and Gaga Wield Enormous Guns…Give Into That Urge [Spin]

NME Releases Hilariously “NME-Esque” List of Their Top Albums of the Decade; Top Ten Includes the Strokes (at Number 1), Libertines (Number 2), Primal Scream (Number 3), The Streets (Number 9)…Well, You Get it. They Like Brit-Rock. A Lot [NME]

compiled by Max Sebela

SEE IT LIVE
JezebelMusic.com October Feature Show @ Public Assembly
October 8, 2009 | Young Boys, Sleigh Bells, Vandelles, Telltale

[All images copyright 2009 Rez Avissar]

Here are some of our shots from the JM.com Feature Show last month. Tonight, check out the November Feature Show with Home Video, Dead Heart Bloom and Heads Up Display.

Young Boys

More on JezebelMusic.com October Feature Show

THIS WEEK IN SHOWS

WEDS. OCT 7

Golden City, The Fear and the Trembling, The Twees, Lyrycyst
Public Assembly
8:00 PM, $10, 21+
On Wednesday, embrace your hedonism while simultaneously easing your conscience. All proceeds of this GIMMESOUND.COM GiveBack Live Music Series go to The Food Bank For New York City. The bands are really good too! So if you’re on the fence about going to a mid-week show, remember that you can be doing some good just by rocking out.

THURS, OCT. 8

Vandelles, Sleigh Bells, Telltale, Young Boys
Public Assembly
9:00 PM, $8, 21+
Dude! It’s the JezebelMusic.com Feature Show! Honestly, I would list this no matter what, but I’m really excited about this show. We’ve got The Vandelles with their noisy surf – “fifties spy music,” is how their drummer Suzanne explains it; Sleigh Bells with their fun, repetitive beats that go straight to your backbone, Young Boys’ pop songs cloaked in feedback and leather jackets, and floating, dark shoegaze from Telltale. It’ll be an interesting mix of bands who aren’t so easy to define. (Though I just tried to.) You can find us editors shaking it in the front row.
More on This Week In Shows

THIS WEEK IN SHOWS

TUES, SEPT. 15

Deerhoof, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Serengeti & Polyphonic
(le) poisson rouge
8:00 PM, $15, 18+
Deerhoof have been confusing audiences for over a decade now, but their brand of noise-infused indie-prog has only become more potent with time.  The combination of Greg Saunier’s seemingly ‘roid-rage-induced drumming with singer/bassist Satomi Matsuzaki’s infectiously cute (albeit often nonsensical) vocal hooks consistently make for a captivating, if not bewildering, live show. Plus, who wouldn’t want to see Satomi belting out lines like “choo choo choo choo beep beep” while performing improvisational pseudo-Tai Chi?
- Sean Hallarman

FRI, SEPT. 18

Ty Segall, The Mantles, The Holy Experiment, Dome Theater
Death By Audio
8:00 PM, $8, all ages
Uh, the maze at Death By Audio is a little nuts. You may feel like you’re being corralled and you might have a hard time seeing the bands, but just squish to the front or find yourself a little corridor or dead-end to rock out in, and enjoy the San Francisco treat that is Ty Segall. He’s mastered that brutally distorted garage punk better than most, because the personality of his songs doesn’t get lost beneath all that noise. And he kicked ass last time he played Death By Audio. If you want a more traditional show format and a sexy, disorienting, frenzy of a double bill, check out Ty at Mercury Lounge with Golden Triangle on Sunday.
- Erin Sheehy

BM Linx, Township, Sorceress
Union Pool
9:00 PM, $8, 21+
If you’re looking for some bluesy glam played by guys with excellent hair, check out Sorceress on Friday at Union Pool. That twangy sound and those fancy boots may hearken back to early seventies glitter, but this isn’t just some retro shtick – seriously, these guys dress like this every day, and a variety of other influences sneak into songs like “Suffer Childe” and “Cum In My Kitchen.” You can read JM.com’s Local Spotlight on Sorceress tomorrow.
- Erin Sheehy

SAT, SEPT. 19

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, The Secret Machines, Freshkills, Sleigh Bells
Music Hall Of Williamsburg
9:00 PM, $20, 18+
I don’t know what to say about this one. It’s …Trail Of Dead. And this time you/they won’t have to contend with an electrical storm.
- Erin Sheehy