I’m sure that I’ve mentioned before that for at least the last decade, I’ve been introduced to a lot of music through video games. Maybe that seems weird, but I don’t know any music nerds, so it’s not like I have anyone constantly chiding my tastes and telling me what I should be listening to. In fact, I think that I might be the biggest music nerd I know, on the basis of I’m the only person I know who even tried to write about music. And I’m kind of a dick when people listen to things I don’t like. That, I think, would be the better example.
Ever since the first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, I’ve been picking out songs I like that are included on game soundtracks and following up to see what the bands are all about. A great many of my favourite bands were introduced to me through video games. Thrice, Paramore, The Vandals, Anamanaguchi, Dragonforce. The list goes on.
But today, let’s talk about Sleigh Bells. If you haven’t guessed yet, this post is not just an anecdote, but my monthly attempt to write some semi-coherent thoughts about music. This is where most people will stop reading.
Their debut album, Treats, is my most recent iTunes purchase, and a pretty good one at that. I often sit and listen to track previews for weeks or even months before purchasing an album from a new band, because I’m very indecisive by nature. But with Treats, I pretty much just shouted “Take my money!” at my phone as I mashed the Buy Album button.. It should be noted that I was at work when I bought this album.
Let’s start at the start. Sleigh Bells have a song featured in Lollipop Chainsaw called “Riot Rhythm” that I was totally into, but never bothered to look up. It wasn’t until I heard it again in Saints Row: The Third that I decided to look into this band a little deeper.
I won’t lie, Sleigh Bells, to most people, will simply sound like noise. It’s eclectic and eccentric and all over the place. But there’s also an order to it all, if you’re willing to actually listen and absorb what you’re hearing. I think “brilliant” might be overselling them a little, but they’re in that ballpark somewhere.
Sleigh Bells is the kind of band that you would never expect that I’d like.
The album is not perfect. In fact, it does a lot of the thing I generally dislike in music. Mindless repetition, for example. The lyrics of the song “A/B Machines” are simply “Got my A machines on the table/Got my B machines in the drawer” repeated for three and a half minutes. Yet it’s one of my favourite songs from Treats. The thing about Sleigh Bells is that you’ve simply got to accept the vocals as another instrument, not an actual voice trying to say something. A few songs have a little more depth to their lyrics, but it’s perfectly safe to consider Treats an instrumental album.
The middle of the album is a little weak, too. The first four songs and the last four song are wonderful and I could listen to them forever, but the three in the middle are sort of slow and bland. They’re not unlistenable or anything, but there’s definitely a lull in there. It lacks the energy and creativity of the rest of the album.
That’s it; I’ll keep it short. If you need more to work with before you try Sleigh Bells out for yourself, go listen to “Riot Rhythm,” “Infinity Guitars,” and “A/B Machines” on YouTube. It’s worth ten minutes of your time, don’t you think?