Around for approximately six years the Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells have now succeeded in making their fusion of hip hop and punk a thing. An actual thing. That was due to releasing three albums in between 2009 and 2013 and their heavy touring schedule. For their fourth album, Jessica Rabbit, they took some time off and then took their time with the writing and recording process. At this time they decided to create their own label, Torn Clean, with the view of releasing this album on it. A couple of times they thought that maybe they were done and then decided that they felt they could do more…better. Derek and Alexis certainly have strong ideas about what they want to accomplish with each track on the album. The result is a melange of intensity and vulnerability. You cannot really reference the music contained here; it is unlike anything any other act is turning out. They have managed to expand on what they have done before without distancing themselves too much. Pacing or tempo is the first thing I noticed when listening to Sleigh Bells as a whole. Several songs will be kick ass and up tempo and then it will be like the bottom just dropped as they just totally slow things down. Different from what they have done to this point but a great example of a young band evolving and expressing where they are as musicians and humans at a point in time.
Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit
