Six By Six By Six

Sleigh Bells @ Terminal 5 2/17/2012

True Shred Guitar / Born to Lose / Riot Rhythm / A/B Machines / Kids / End of the Line / Comeback Kid / Tell ‘Em / Leader of the Pack / Straight A’s / Treats / Infinity Guitars // Rill Rill / Demons / Crown on the Ground

I reviewed Sleigh Bells’ excellent new album Reign of Terror for Pitchfork. This concert was broadcast online, so you probably know what it was like. It was awesome. Let’s talk about “Demons.”

Sleigh Bells “Demons”

If you go into Reign of Terror expecting it to be a party like Treats, you’re going to be let down. That record was all energy and extroverted nonsense, and if you read the New York Times profile on the band that ran over the weekend, you know that it was essential Derek Miller’s way of escaping from very depressing things going on in his family life at the time it was made and released. Reign takes the template of Treats and fleshes it out with dark, complicated emotions. It’s not a downer – it rocks, it’s fun, they still provide these endorphin-rush hooks. It’s cathartic, especially on songs like “Demons,” which expertly channel the aggression and physicality of metal without a lot of metal culture baggage. Miller has said that this song in particular was inspired by Def Leppard, and I totally get it – both bands are great at drawing on the most elemental appeal of metal while staying firmly in the realm of simple, catchy pop music. I’ve never been a metal guy, but I find so much music in the genre to be tuneless and overly complicated – I want this rock power, but I need it to be connected to melodies and rhythms that are just as overwhelming as the sound. “Demons” is one of the most thrilling pieces of music I’ve encountered in a while, and I would love for there to be more stuff coming out now that pushes in this direction.

Buy it from Amazon.