aaamusic | On 13, Mar 2012

If two years ago Treats destroyed the speakers of your hi-fi system, well, maybe you should think twice before plugging in new Reign Of Terror, because, believe it or not, Sleigh Bells got bigger and louder.

The Brooklyn-based duo warns you from the incipit of True Shred Guitar, with its pounding percussions, sharp guitars, and over-the-top fake live effects.

RoT’s formula is simple indeed: if you hated them in the past, you’ll hate them even more. On the contrary, if you loved Treats and their first same-titled EP, then this album will seal an everlasting adoration for Derek Edward Miller and Alexis Krauss.

Sleigh Bell’s story is very well known by now. Former members of very different bands, being Derek guitarist for the hardcore act Poison The Well, and Alison singer in a teen-pop band Rubyblue, Sleigh Bells mix perfectly attention to melodies and craft of outer spaced sound. The only risk run by this formula is to fall into the trap of self-compliance, looking at yourself in the mirror thinking you can’t get any better than this and the only way is pumping up the volume even more.

These suspects fall with the outstanding Born To Lose and Comeback Kid, but especially with the fantastic You Love Me, where Sleigh Bells literally rape twenty years of cheesy pop and reinvent it from the future. Is this the way pop music will sound like in thirty years?

 

Lorenzo Coretti