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Monday, 20 February 2012 18:02

Written by Scott Mervis

Sleigh Bells
"Reign of Terror" (Mom + Pop)
***
It was a bit of a fail last week that Justin Timberlake's surprise impersonation of Bon Iver ended up being the musical highlight on "Saturday Night Live."

In the actual music guest spot, breakout Brooklyn noise duo Sleigh Bells came off as a blur of unfocused noise and energy, to the point where people were tweeting that it rivaled the previous Lana Del Rey trainwreck.

Sleigh Bells joined the ranks of indie darlings in 2010 with "Treats," becoming the go-to band for people who like a little metal kick in their dance pop. The album mashed up bombastic dance beats with the metallic guitar heroics of Derek E. Miller (former Poison the Well), the purring/shouting vocals of Alexis Krauss and enough random scattered noise to make it sound like the work of 10 people.

Obviously, the duo hasn't felt the need to reinvent itself on the follow-up, "Reign of Terror," which sticks to a similar formula but with the guitar piled on a little thicker. Mr. Miller makes that clear from the opening track, "True Shred Guitar," a throwback to '70s live albums, and hits his stride on "You Lost Me," sounding like an indie Eddie Van Halen.

With song titles like "Born to Lose," "Leader of the Pack (not the Shangri-Las) and "Road to Hell," Sleigh Bells promises a lot in the packaging. Unfortunately, the duo isn't as interested in writing little pop masterpieces as it is capturing a sound or mood and beating it home. The two-minute "Leader of the Pack" doesn't even have a discernible chorus. In fact, you can make it to the bottom of "Reign of Terror" without even having a hook stuck in your head. Nonetheless, there are joys to be had within these walls of sound and in the strange juxtaposition of excitable girl power with solid metal crunch.

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