Treats (album)

Treats
Studio album by Sleigh Bells
Released	May 11, 2010
Genre	Noise pop, dance-punk
Length	32:05
Label	Mom + Pop/N.E.E.T.
Producer	Derek E. Miller
Sleigh Bells chronology
Sleigh Bells (2009) Treats (2010)
Singles from Treats
"Tell 'Em" Released: April 28, 2010 "Crown On The Ground" Released: June 5, 2010 "Infinity Guitars" Released: November 8, 2010 "Rill Rill" Released: January 27, 2011 "Riot Rhythm" Released: February 11, 2011 [1]

Treats is the debut studio album by American noise pop duo Sleigh Bells, released jointly on May 11, 2010 by Mom + Pop Music and N.E.E.T. Recordings.

Track listing

All music composed by Sleigh Bells.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Tell 'Em"	2:56
2.	"Kids"	2:46
3.	"Riot Rhythm"	2:37
4.	"Infinity Guitars"	2:32
5.	"Run the Heart"	2:41
6.	"Rachel"	2:19
7.	"Rill Rill"	3:50
8.	"Crown on the Ground"	3:49
9.	"Straight A's"	1:32
10.	"A/B Machines"	3:35
11.	"Treats"	3:29
Total length:		32:00

• "Rill Rill" samples "Can You Get to That?" by Funkadelic.

Recording

Derek E. Miller's rough demos gained the attention of Spike Jonze and M.I.A.. Miller stated that the ensuing positive feedback and his "dream collaboration" working with M.I.A. in her studio on the album Maya (2010) gave him the confidence to do the Treats record without opting for a co-producer.^[2] Miller worked with M.I.A. on the track "Meds and Feds" in 2009, following which she signed the group to her label N.E.E.T.^[3] Alexis Kraus said of M.I.A.: "It's really exciting to have her in our court and be able to work with her. At this point it's more about being part of a creative community and the day-to-day running of the business is pretty much Mom + Pop's job. It's the fact that she had interest in us literally before anyone else cared at all which definitely boosted our confidence.”^[3] The track "Treats" contains an interpolation of the song "Meds and Feds".

Vocalist Alexis Krauss spoke of her enjoyment at the collaborative nature of the album making process with Miller, telling Drowned in Sound: “When we got into the studio we began collaborating more. There's a few tracks on the album - "Tell Em", "Riot Rhythms", "Run the Heart" – which definitely became more collaborative in terms of me doing more work on melodies, harmonies and we plan on further explorations of this in the future."^[3] She also spoke of the different vocal styles she employed to convey the meanings of each song. "On a song like "Infinity Guitars", obviously the delivery is going to be much more aggressive and menacing while a song like "Rill Rill", you are occupying a much different state of mind when you're delivering those vocals.”^[3]

Treats was recorded in January and February 2010. The song "Rill Rill" contains a sample of the 1971 Funkadelic song "Can You Get to That".^[3]

Promotion

Prior to the album's release, the track "Tell 'Em" was released as a free download on April 28, 2010 via the Mom + Pop website.^[4]

The second single from the album was the track "Infinity Guitars". A music video for the song premiered on NME's website on Monday, September 20, and the single was released on November 8, 2010.^[5]

The Track "Rill Rill" was featured on the 4th season of Gossip Girl. The song "Kids" was featured in promo ads for the USA adaption of the popular teen show, "Skins". It was also used prominently in the trailer for Abduction, starring Taylor Lautner, and in the trailer for FIFA 12.

The Univision network TV show El Gordo y La Flaca played a 30 second sample of the song "Crown on The Ground" in August 2010.

The music video for "Rill Rill" debuted on MTV on January 27, 2011.

The upcoming 2011 game, Bodycount, features Sleigh Bell's song "Kids" in the trailer.

Cinemax recently launched its trailer for its new series, Strike Back, which includes Sleigh Bells song 'Riot Rhythm' from their second album, Treats.

Reception

Treats received extremely positive reviews. Paste gave the album 9.3/10 or a "phenomenal" rating, and said that it is "a supremely raw and visceral pop masterwork". Pitchfork Media writer Mark Richardson gave the album 8.7/10, earning it a "Best New Music" accolade, stating that it sounds "remarkably fresh and unlike anything else right now". Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly awarded Treats an A-, describing the sound as "genre-swerving". UK-based review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? correlated 33 reviews with an ADM Rating of 8.1.^[6] Treats currently has a Metacritic aggregate score of 84%, indicating "Universal Acclaim". Rolling Stone magazine placed "Infinity Guitars" at #21 on their list of the Best Singles of 2010.^[7]

Exclaim! named "Treats" the No. 16 Pop & Rock Album of 2010.^[8] Pitchfork Media placed it at number 16 on its list "The Top 50 Albums of 2010".^[9]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[10]
Alternative Press	[11]
BLARE Magazine	[12]
Chicago Tribune	[13]
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)[14]
Los Angeles Times	[15]
NME	[16]
Paste	(9.3/10)[17]
Pitchfork	(8.7/10)[18]
PopMatters	(9/10)[19]

Charts

The week following its release, Treats placed at #39 on the overall Billboard 200 Albums Chart while coming in at #4 on the Independent Albums Chart. It peaked at 12 on the UK indie Charts

According to year end charts worldwide the album sold a total of 500,000 copies.

Personnel

• Derek E. Miller - Songwriter, guitarist, producer
• Alexis Krauss - Vocals, Songwriter

References

1. ^ http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/riot-rhythm-single/id418873491
2. ^ Lindsay, Cam (2010-05-11). "Exclaim News: Sleigh Bells Talk Spike Jonze, M.I.A., and Being Years Ahead of their Dreams". Exclaim. http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=115&csid2=844&fid1=47042. Retrieved 2010-06-07. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Barrett, Brad (1 September 2010). "DiS Meets Sleigh Bells". http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4140724-dis-meets-sleigh-bells. Retrieved 10 September 2010. 
4. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
5. ^ http://www.nme.com/video/bcid/611178640001/search/NME
6. ^ http://www.anydecentmusic.com/review/1832/Treats.aspx
7. ^ "Rolling Stone's Best Singles of 2010". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/68404/239428?RS_show_page=5/. Retrieved 2010-12-08. 
8. ^ "Pop & Rock Year in Review". Exclaim!. http://exclaim.ca/Features/YearInReview/pop_rock_year_in_review_2010/Page/16. 
9. ^ http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7893-the-top-50-albums-of-2010/4
10. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1822060
11. ^ http://www.altpress.com/reviews/treats.htm
12. ^ http://blaremagazine.com/2010/08/09/album-reviews-9-8-10
13. ^ "Album review: Sleigh Bells, 'Treats'". Chicago Tribune. 2010-06-01. http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2010/06/album-review-sleigh-bells-treats.html. 
14. ^ Reviewed by Leah Greenblatt (2010-05-20). "Treats | Music". EW.com. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20386427,00.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
15. ^ May 25, 2010  (2010-05-25). "Album review: Sleigh Bells' 'Treats' | Pop & Hiss | Los Angeles Times". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/05/album-review-sleigh-bells-treats.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
16. ^ "NME Review". http://www.nme.com/reviews/sleigh-bells--2/11453. 
17. ^ Hazelwood, Drake. "Sleigh Bells: Treats :: Music :: Reviews :: Paste". Pastemagazine.com. http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/05/sleigh-bells-treats.html. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
18. ^ Richardson, Mark. "Sleigh Bells "Treats" album review". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14251-treats/. Retrieved 2010-05-30. 
19. ^ Pan, Arnold. "Sleigh Bells: Treats < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/125765-sleigh-bells-treats. Retrieved 2010-05-30.