To love Sleigh Bells is to embrace the chaos. From the crunchy guitars; to the noise sampler that sounds like someone spilled water on it; to their live show, with strobes galore and lights often resting on the color of fire; Sleigh Bells’ primary goal seems to be provocation a carefree good time, and, ya know, to disorient. Hell, the lead singer, Alexis Krauss, is known for wearing a customized basketball jersey while she performs, joining Vampire Weekend and Salem as artists who are confident enough to alienate the indie dorks with sports references. But, as fun as Sleigh Bells is on a base level, there is also a fearlessness to their music, as if the band is never afraid of disappointing.
This is supported by the decision to release “Born To Lose” as the first sampling of new music from their upcoming Reign Of Terror. Much of the band’s trademark is here, from Krauss’ disaffected vocals to Derek Miller’s balls-out monster riffs. But, the song climbs up a single rung and then stalls, revealing no surprises beyond some dual vocal melodies that sound like children chanting and, at best, a mildly interesting breakdown. “Born to Lose” is a four-minute track that gives you all that it has within its first 30 seconds. But, still, the release feels calculated, as if Sleigh Bells didn’t give a shit what you thought about their first offering from Reign Of Terror. And, as a fan of their general attitude of “not giving a shit,” I mean this as a compliment.
Maybe it was all plotted to lead to “Comeback Kid,” their first proper single from Reign Of Terror, aptly titled in light of the tune the preceded it. “Comeback Kid” is all life, a track that you can genuinely dance to with the knowledge that the music you are grooving to sounds like gunshots. Thankfully a minute shorter than “Born To Lose,” not a second of “Comeback Kid” feels wasted. Well, save for the last 10 seconds of unnecessary lone keyboard notes. But, if Sleigh Bells keeps throwing up bangers like “Comeback Kid,” we’ll forgive them their self-indulgent outros. Hell, we’ll even forgive them their by-the-numbers, middle-tier tunes, like “Born to Lose.”
