Sleigh Bells are back with their cheerleader rock and in-your-face roll. Someone’s turned the volume down on the beats, so they don’t distort; the attitude is kind of compressed, though still as potent; and the overall effect is one of pretty-girl vocals amid some crashing, thrashing and electronic fiddling.

Guitarist, and one half of the duo, Derek E Miller tightens his rock sound on single Comeback Kid. Big chords kick the band’s sound into a fuzzy time-zone, while the ethereal tones from singer Alexis Krauss seem oblivious, or undeterred, by her partner in crime’s liking for all things loud.

If the tunes are as infectious as the all-encompassing production, I remain unsure. But these two have never played it straight, always running relentlessly. Some songs parading as one extended climactic passage – you’ve got to keep your head down as the hammering Born To Lose flies over.

Tracks like the more controlled Never Say Die are more like an electro nightmare, that spins on a repetitive formula of synths and drum machines. You become fixated, chasing your own shadow, round and round we go. It breaks the chord-happy distortion from Miller’s six-string and suggests the twosome are experimenting with arrangements.

There are, in fact, more moments where the duo nearly slip into a modern day shoegaze format – the electronically built End of the Line has Miller piling the effects on his guitar, while Krauss showers us with angelic vocals. It still has a feisty backbeat, but it’s as close to purified pop as the two have been.

Sleigh Bells are playing it exactly how they want, from stampedes to haunted, synthetic balladry – they’re game. Sure it widens their appeal, but more importantly it makes for a fine record that is well worth a listen.

-Brian Bentner-