Sleigh Bells: "Crown on the Ground"

There’s this restaurant in Toronto called Pizzeria Libretto. I’ve never been there, but get this: they have a section on their website entitled “Ideology.” Their basic beef is that “not all pizza should be called pizza.” Sure there’s Chicago style pizza and New York style pizza, and it’s good and all. Nothing wrong with enjoying it, “but it’s not REALLY pizza. Pizza is a MUCH more specific thing, invented in Naples in the 18th century and an important part of their life and culture. So why not be true to this by respecting the rules set out by the European Union and the Vera Pizza Napoletana Association?” GOOD QUESTION.

I’ll spare you the rest, but they go on to quote at length from the various articles in the VPNA’s “Disciplinare” manual. I love this. The European Union is into disciplining what is actually fucking what, and what is not fucking what but is using what’s terms loosely. Toronto pizza or “pizza” is terrible, but that doesn’t matter. You could be in some back room in The Junction making a slice so good it’ll slap the pretty off of Jude Law’s face; no matter, you just got told.

Now, “Crown on the Ground” is excellent. Its central premise—take a Len-like indie-pop-with-hip-hop-pretensions tune and record it all Times New Viking—is brilliant. The result is a noise simultaneously acerbic and inviting, irritating and seductive. It takes courage to make something so ugly that yet is too sing-song for the noise crowd. This is a perfect distillation of our moment, an astute—even cynical—cashing in on several fads peaking and past. Sleigh Bells are smart as hell, and “Crown on the Ground” is the sound of our living present.

But don’t tell me it’s bubble gum pop. Some of us actually care about the genres writers so blithely defame by casually throwing a fistful of terms in a “sounds like” gesture. Bands have influences, I get it. Sometimes they themselves trumpet those influences in interviews and liner notes and in those cases it’s hard to avoid. But don’t tell me that Panda Bear actually sounds like the Beach Boys, or that the Vivian Girls are girl group pop. You know who sounds like/is girl group pop? The Pipettes. I won’t quote you article five, subsection B from my self-penned power-pop “Disciplinaire,” but rest assured it’s in a state of perpetual disregard.

Sleigh Bells do not sound like 1910 Fruitgum Company. Take away the layer of lo-fi noise and they still sound nothing like the Archies. Hell, take away the beat and you’re still nowhere close. Regardless of what filled the band’s dreams while they were making this record, there is more Passion Pit than Super K in the result. It’s a great track, a breakout. But it’s not bubblegum.

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