Album Review: Sleigh Bells - Jessica Rabbit
By Chuck Greenlee, Copy Editor
[Torn Clean; 2016]
Rating: 5/10
Key Tracks: "It's Just Us Now," "Crucible"
The noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells is back again with their fourth album, Jessica Rabbit, which is arguably the cleanest album they have written. That being said, it takes away from the traditional mess of noise that listeners have come to love whilst listening to Sleigh Bells. Despite the cleanliness, Jessica Rabbit’s 14-tracks will leave the listener satisfied and probably nothing more than that.
Jessica Rabbit comes out hard and heavy with “It’s Just Us Now,” the opening track that is reminiscent of their debut album, Treats. The lyrics are morbidly beautiful: “And when you die / I wanna die / I wanna die with you / And lay us down for good / Lay us down for good.” The lyrics reflect the title of the song in that upon death, there is a longing to die together so it truly can be “just you” together in your grave.
Macabre lyrics aside, the heavy, conceptual noise that Sleigh Bells is known for is more than prevalent in this song and makes the listener hype for what’s to come – but ultimately disappoints. “I Can’t Stand You Anymore” is another track that stands out amongst the rest on the album. The hard-hitting sound of the 4th track comes along with the same theme of lyrics found in “It’s Just Us Now.” However, there isn’t much that discerns the two tracks or anything else on the album.
At just under 45 minutes, Jessica Rabbit struggles to captivate the listener beyond a superficial level. The conceptual pop that this album brings is a poor choice to introduce any listener to.
