Sleigh Beats: On Sleigh Bells' Treats

It's been
a few
months
now since
Sleigh
Bells re-
leased
their
debut,
Treats, and I'm still thinking about their use of that '80s drum sound. To their credit, it doesn't resemble a retro rehash. Rather, it's the beat, in isolation, that brings the neon era to mind.

It isn't a drum machine or hip-hop beat, but it's so prominent and precise, it sounds quasi-synthetic; not plastic, but hardly organic.

Sleigh Bells with a hyper-distorted version of their trademark beat.

Here are a few of the acts that first put that beat into motion,
though none sound like Sleigh Bells. Note that I was trying to
avoid tracks that use obvious permutations of the Bo Diddley
rhythm, like the Jam's "Start!" Great song, great beat, but the
style predates the '80s (see "You Can't Hurry Love," etc.).

Click here for my review of Treats.


I just reviewed Bob Rafelson's Head, and there's Toni Basil, dan-
cing with Monkee Davy Jones to Harry Nilsson's "Daddy's Song."
It's a great sequence--and worth the price of admission alone.


Okay, it's fairly organic, but the beat is so '80s, I had to include it.

[video to come]
Classic big beat. No wonder a drummer produced it.

Sleigh Bells image from Volcano City.