Shark Teeth The Size Of Pick-Up Trucks

Sleigh Bells “It’s Just Us Now”

The running theme of Sleigh Bells’ records is the effort and emotional strain it takes to overcome insecurity and push yourself to be the kind of person you want to be and to become something truly great. Derek Miller makes it all sound like a matter of life and death – there’s no half-measures in Sleigh Bells songs, and the music is always pushed to the furthest extremes of catchiness, of emphatic self-belief, of raw force, of blaring loudness. They’re aiming for an overpowering physical sensation; they want to give you a thrill. But it’s all a dramatization of an inner struggle to be optimistic and have faith that you can make things work.

The phrase “It’s Just Us Now” doesn’t come up in the song, but it’s the subtext. It’s a message to the people who stuck with them after the hype for them died down: You get it, so here’s the most ambitious music we can come up with, because we’re not going to stop fighting even if everyone bails on us. No one would ever consider the music on their previous records to be timid or repressed, but they do feel that way in the context of where they’ve been since Jessica Rabbit came out in 2016. It’s loud, but not in the red and warped to the point that it sounds like an accident. They stopped relying on decibels to give you that oomph feeling. And crucially, Alexis Krauss had revealed herself as a powerhouse singer – the airy head voice of the first few records was now supplanted by a fierce, belting rock voice that was more En Vogue than indie pop. They leveled up, in large part because these are people who thrive as underdogs.

“It’s Just Us Now” tips back and forth between confidence and doubt, but it’s not the pessimistic feelings that stick. The lines that jump out at you are statements of certainty: “I believe deeply in decency.” “When you die, I wanna die with you.” The music sounds defiant and heroic, so when Krauss sings “when I’m conscious, I am cursed,” it just comes across like pointing at an obstacle to kick down and overcome. They’re ready to push and fight, and are not afraid to fail. This is the energy we should be carrying into the New Year.

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