Reign of Terror

Sleigh Bells

After receiving very positive reception with their 2010 debut Treats, Sleigh Bells return with their sophomore effort Reign of Terror. The duo of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss had stated prior to its release that Reign of Terror would draw from metal influences. Sure enough, you can feel that influence from the get go.

We get a decent opener in “True Shred Guitar” with its crowd-buffering guitar riffs. We then dive into “Born to Lose” where the subject matter takes a dark turn toward suicide accompanied by pounding bass pedals intermittently. Very metal.

The album is at its best with arena thumpers “Crush and “End of the Line”, the latter of which is more of a traditional pop song than anything else on Reign of Terror. Kind of like what “Rill Rill” was on Treats. Sadly, this is the peak of the album’s greatness. Make no mistake, Sleigh Bells delivered on their promise of metal influences. It’s very evident in most of the songs, especially on the second half of the album. From the dark songs about death and suicide (“You Lost Me”) to the powerful guitar riffs and thudding kick drums (“Demons”) the Brooklyn duo really made sure to cover the basics of metal-inspired tunes. Sadly, the album just fell flat. Like the thud of a kick drum. The least three songs on the album all blended together for me and were not very memorable.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t that big a fan of Treats. It had its few good songs, but as a whole the album sounded like a garbled bunch of noise. However, as I was listening to Reign of Terror I wanted to go back to Treats and if I do, I’ll probably appreciate it more. Sleigh Bells did try to do something different with their sound here and I applaud the effort from Miller and Krauss. I never got the feeling they were phoning it in by any means. This album just suffers from too much repetitiveness in its beats and ultimately can’t redeem itself.

Recommended Tracks: “Crush”, “End of the Line”

Born to Die

Lana Del Rey

I can’t remember an artist in my lifetime who’s been as polarizing as Lana Del Rey. You can’t get a performing gig on SNL without attaining a big fan base (especially without even having put out a record at the time). Alas, haters love to hate her. I mean they REALLY love to hate her. So many blogs and forums have made it their mission in life to tear her apart, even though Del Rey (a.k.a. Lizzy Grant) only released a handful of tunes under her current moniker. And after Del Rey completely tanked on SNL, it seemed the haters had won the battle.

I wanted to listen to this album with a very open mind. Truth be told, I really wanted this album to be good just to put an end to the unfair backlash she's received over the past few months. Most of it had to do with her “fake” image and her stage name. It’s ridiculous how many people fake their image in music, so why does Lana Del Rey get so much shit for it? I don’t for one minute believe that Lady Gaga has always exhibited the weird and outlandish behavior does, yet she got nowhere near the amount flack Del Rey’s received when she broke out with "Just Dance". Speaking of which, Lady Gaga is not her real name. Neither is Prince. Nor Jay-Z, Bob Dylan, or Common. So why can’t Lizzy Grant perform under the name “Lana Del Rey”? But, I digress…

This review isn’t about any of that. It’s about Lana Del Rey’s first LP Born to Die and whether or not she can back up the hype that’s surrounded her since last summer.

Her debut album focuses mostly on problems with men. I use “men” very loosely because many of the songs give off a very teenage vibe. But, I’d feel so lame if I said “boy problems.”

I had already heard the title track “Born to Die” and “Video Games” prior to the album’s release and I honestly like them. I still stand by them now as both being good songs. Especially the latter, which offers an honest perspective of what it’s like to love someone so much and feel like something isn’t being reciprocated.

Unfortunately, I can’t speak so highly of the rest of the album. All of the songs are so one-note and don’t measure up to par with the aforementioned tracks. Born to Die is an album almost exclusively about love and boys and wanting to feel loved by boys. This is fine as a topic for a few songs, but honestly ends up falling flat because none of the songs are really memorable at all. They have the same slow, lusting rhythm without much variation. I’m guessing the idea was to focus more on the lyrics and sultry seduction in Del Rey’s voice rather than crafting a synthy pop beat. This is good in theory (like communism), but doesn’t work at all and completely backfires (like communism). The result is an album of boring and forgettable tracks.

It’s not that Del Rey doesn’t have a good voice. She just doesn’t exhibit much vocal range on any of the songs on this album. Then again, maybe she doesn’t have a good voice at all and the production crew did a great job of mixing and perfecting the vocals. Either way, by the time “Million Dollar Man” rolled around, I was so tired of hearing the same song about how fickle boys can be that I had given up hope that it would redeem itself lyrically. And it didn’t. The album hit a complete thud with such drivel as “This is What Makes Us Girls” and “Without You”, the latter of which contains the lyrics “Summertime is nice and hot / My life is sweet like vanilla is”. “Lolita” might be the worst of the bunch. It’s basically what you’d get if Ke$ha’s and Katy Perry’s songwriters collaborated.

I’m sorry to say it, but the haters have been vindicated. At least for now.

Recommended Tracks: “Born to Die”, “Video Games”

Given to the Wild

The Maccabees

Before finally listening to Given to the Wild, a lot of hype was being built around The Maccabees’ third album. London’s own indie rock sextet has become one of the hottest bands in the U.K. over the past 5 years. But let’s face it: there are so many buzz bands that have great debuts, pretty solid follow-ups, and then fizzle into obscurity by the time their third album is released. Naturally, I was wary of what I was about to listen to.

I needn’t have worried. The Maccabees have released what is the first truly great album of 2012 in Given to the Wild. Here, we are treated to a splendid, yet heartbreaking album about loss of innocence and coping with heartbreak. Singer Orlando Weeks really knows how to evoke all the proper emotions out of the listener when he tackles each of these themes with his soft and solemn tone.

The opening title track is a perfect segway into “Child”, the album’s second song which tackles the loss of innocence head on. Songs like “Feel to Follow” and “Go” show how truly in sync the band is from an instrumental perspective. The former is just pure bliss with dueling guitars and light drum battering that builds up to the finale of the song, while the latter has its own distinct beat and soaring guitar solo that builds up until only to slow down at the halfway mark. From there it’s lather, rinse, repeat for the second half of “Go.” Lead single “Pelican” is one of the faster songs on the album that focuses on taking what you can from life and enjoying it before our time is up. And the cycle repeats itself over and over.

The album really shines when it deals with heartbreak on one of the album’s best tracks “Forever I’ve Known”, where Week’s sings of knowing a relationship is over, but begs his lover “couldn’t you still try?” After one listen, I was hooked and it’s one of my favorite breakup songs to be released in the past couple years. On “Went Away” he revisits the same theme of love lost and clings onto the shambles of a broken relationship. And when it feels like all hope is lost on “Slowly One” the album slips into a nearly two-minute breakdown that sees the light at the end of the tunnel.

Though this is a fantastic album, it does not come without its flaws. The sound on many of the tracks feels very similar to each other, making it hard to distinguish between them. Fortunately, it’s a very relaxed and focused sound with shimmering guitars and steady bass lines that allow the album to be enjoyed anywhere and at any time. One listen may not be enough to hook you on Given to the Wild, but after a few plays it becomes hard to resist. Unfortunately it has yet to be distributed in the U.S., but will hopefully be available stateside in the not-too distant future.

Recommended Tracks: “Feel to Follow”, “Forever I’ve Known”, “Pelican”, “Slowly One”