Sleigh Bells’ Treats is This Generation’s Nevermind

I was in college in New York City the first time I heard Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” It was the fall of 1991, and I vividly remember the song searing my eardrums in a club called The Building; the dance floor erupted into a euphoric mosh pit.

In those days, There was no iPhone to Shazam the song—no iTunes, Amazon or Napster to instantly download and start playing it. Consumers had to work a little bit harder to seek out the music that would influence fashion, culture, politics and become the soundtrack for a generation. And they did. The album shot to number one on the Billboard charts by January of 1992, and has since sold over 26 million copies worldwide. Nirvana’s second album, “Nevermind” changed the course of American popular music. As Nirvana biographer Michael Azerrad said:

Nevermind came along at exactly the right time. This was music by, for, and about a whole new group of young people who had been overlooked, ignored, or condescended to.

It’s been a very long time since an album or a band has had such a profound effect on a generation. As I listen to “Treats” the debut album from the Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells, I’m taken back to that night in New York City where I knew I was experiencing a revolution.

“Treats” is 32 minutes of sonic mayhem. It’s a blisteringly noisy dichotomy of sweet as honey high school cheerleader vocals, bass heavy over-processed hip hop beats and smouldering guitar riffs. It is a revelation; all the makings of the soundtrack for a new generation of kids raised on samples, mash-ups and autotune.

I’m no music critic, but I know what I like, and for the most part, I love this album. “Treats” is audacious, catchy, raucous, rule breaking and undeniably charming. I don’t know if any single album will ever have the impact of a “Nevermind” again, but this is as close as they get. I predict you will be hearing quite a bit from Sleigh Bells in the months to come.

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