Slay Bells

It’s the time of year that thoughts turn to sleigh bells. In my case, that should be capitalized – Sleigh Bells. A friend recently sent over some tunes from the band, which I think hails from Brooklyn (I forget if I made that up or if it’s true, so we’ll go with Option B, True).

The first time I listened to Sleigh Bells, I was intrigued, but didn’t really foresee listening to them too much. There’s a little too much bombast, things are a little too grungy and industrial for my tastes. When I listen to their marquee track, “Crown On The Ground”, I picture cities crumbling and people wearing leather trenchcoats. And while The Matrix was a good movie, it’s generally not my musical inclination.

The second time I listened to the album, though, I was struck by the variety across the tracks.  There are melodic, nearly beach-y summer tunes like “Ring Ring.” There are Switch-ian hip hop tracks like “Beach Girls.” There are songs that sound like Jock Jams’ illegitimate children like “Infinity Guitars.” All told, the collection is diverse, it’s unpredictable, and it’s really really good. And time and time again, I find myself returning to the jams.

My friend gave me these tunes with the instructions “Listen only when you are in the mood to rock out.” He’s right – this is music to light fires to.

Sleigh Bells – Beach Girls (YSI) (filesavr)

Sleigh Bells – Crown On The Ground (YSI) (filesavr)