Album: Treats
Song: Treats
I like chocolate. Sweet, sticky, provides a slight buzz, all good things. Nothing but chocolate, however, and I'd soon puke my guts up. Sleigh Bells are musical chocolate.
The second time I listened to this track I was not at all sure that I was hearing the Next Big Thing in music. Superficially it was still awesome...but something didn't seem quite right. Couldn't put my finger on it, but it was all starting to seem a bit treacly.
The third time I listened to this track I was sure than I wasn't hearing the Next Big Thing in music. Superficially, it was as awesome as ever. But dig even slightly deeper and it soon becomes obvious that this is a silly pop song and nothing more. Its only true appeal is the synthesized drum sounds. Which are, to be sure, fantabulistic. The guitar line is boring as hell, however, and the entire song is just so square. Square time signatures, square melodic lines, square structures, square square square. Blech.
Now don't get me wrong. "Square" isn't necessarily a bad thing. Some genres lend themselves to squareness. Country. Folk. Blues. But this is the music of the average person, and we need to hear the voice of the average person to make it appealing. Lyrics become more meaningful, story-telling and yarn-spinning become assets. In an electronic genre, however, squareness is death. Electronic music offers possibilities no other genre affords, and in my opinion the skill of the electronic musician is in his ability to explore these possibilities. Sleigh Bells, electronica's Rhianna, just don't measure up.
But next road trip I'm definitely putting this tune on my mix CD. A little chocolate always goes down sweet.
Dude, had you'd listened to it a fourth time you would have found the nuances that make the song brilliant. A work of art, in fact.
ReplyDeleteWork of art? No way dude. It's a great song, by far the best on the album, but it lacks substance. It's a folk song made palatable by the kickass drum manipulation.
ReplyDeleteFourth time.
ReplyDelete