It seemed that 15 years ago the music industry was in a bit of an evolving state. We were leaving the 2000s and its thoughtful run of bands with “Bear” in their names and heading into the 2010s with a feeling of indifferent aloofness. Looking for new sounds, new vibes, and a need to find new ground in a world that seemed that the “hope” we’d been hearing so much about might be for real.
Enter Sleigh Bells. Remember this duo? Vocalist Alexis Krauss and guitarist/producer Derek E. Miller hit the ground running with their album Treats, a record sitting firmly in the red from start to finish. Chunky metal guitar riffs looped and defiled as hip hop/industrial beats did everything they could to blow your subwoofers and eardrums. Meanwhile Alexis Krauss’ vocals hung somewhere between Betty Boop and K-pop, all girly bubblegum sweetness as the guitars and beats mercilessly gifted us with Tinnitus.
It was something new, and that newness was greeted with critical acclaim. Reign of Terror followed in 2012 and the band hit rinse, repeat with another numbing collection of barb-wired pop/punk wrapped in C-4 explosives. This continued on with three more albums, slight variances in sound but still nonetheless tiring on the ears.
Four years after Sleigh Bells’ last album Texis, we now have the tongue twister Bunky Becky Birthday Boy. No surprises here, still loud but a touch more obnoxious. With no variation in volume, this record wears out its welcome pretty quickly.
Krauss and Miller waste no time with the opener “Bunky Pop”, a cross between caffeinated pop punk, animated K-Pop exaltations, and everything but the kitchen sink overindulgence. “Wanna Start A Band?” sounds like if you asked AI to combine Ministry and Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll”. Maybe throw some Skrillex in for good measure. This is like the musical equivalence of ADHD. “Roxette Ric” tries for pop punk heights and nearly reaches it if it weren’t for the one too many musical turns. “Badly” nearly gets there. Nearly. And album closer “Pulse Drips Quiet” might be the closest Krauss and Miller come to straight up indie pop perfection.
Not sure if its the decade plus since Sleigh Bells debut, or the musical times we were exiting that gave this duo relevance in the beginning, but Bunky Becky Birthday Boy just comes across as obnoxious and migraine-inducing. I think under the many layers of power drill guitars and excessive blips and beeps there are catchy songs. I just don’t have enough earplugs to listen to this again.
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