Jessica Rabbit (album)

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"Rule Number One" redirects here. For the film, see Rule No. 1.
Jessica Rabbit
Studio album by
Sleigh Bells
ReleasedNovember 11, 2016 (2016-11-11)
Studio
  • The Bayou, The Creamery, Faculty, Treefort (Brooklyn, New York)
  • Blue Lagoon (Sherman Oaks, California)
  • Can-Am Recorders (Tarzana, California)
  • San Francisco Soundworks (San Francisco, California)
GenreIndie pop[1]
Length42:58
LabelTorn Clean
ProducerSleigh Bells
Sleigh Bells chronology
Bitter Rivals
(2013) 		Jessica Rabbit
(2016) 		Kid Kruschev
(2017)
Singles from Jessica Rabbit
  1. "Rule Number One"
    Released: June 7, 2016[2]
  2. "Hyper Dark"
    Released: July 19, 2016[3]
  3. "I Can Only Stare"
    Released: October 4, 2016[4]

Jessica Rabbit is the fourth studio album by American noise pop duo Sleigh Bells. It was released on November 11, 2016, by Torn Clean, the duo's own label, in partnership with Sinderlyn.[5][6]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The A.V. ClubC[9]
DIY[10]
Drowned in Sound9/10[11]
The Guardian[12]
NME[13]
Pitchfork5.9/10[14]
PopMatters[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
Slant Magazine[17]

Jessica Rabbit received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on 24 reviews.[7] Lee Adcock of Drowned in Sound stated that "[e]verything about Jessica Rabbit is visceral—full-force drum slams, the slick claps, Miller's steely slabs of guitar, lyrics replete with bombs, knives, and natural disasters."[11] El Hunt of DIY opined, "Energising Sleigh Bells with rocket-fuel, Jessica Rabbit stands up as the band's most consistent record since Treats."[10] Heather Phares of AllMusic noted that "instead of just tweaking their dynamics, [the duo] play fast and loose with the most conventional and experimental parts of their music", concluding, "Contrasts like these have been Sleigh Bells' modus operandi since the beginning, but Jessica Rabbit's mix of brashness and finesse proves they can still thrill."[8] The Guardian's Gwilym Mumford found that "there's a wider sonic palette on show than on previous efforts: snatches of synth and glitchy breakbeats jostle for attention alongside Alex Krauss's clean, poppy vocals", calling the album an "encouraging move into new territory".[12] Rolling Stone's Sarah Grant commented, "When Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells arrived six years ago, their wild-style hip-hop/noise-punk seemed like an explosive novelty. Four records into their run, they're still building on it".[16]

Mark Beaumont of NME wrote, "It's all deranged enough to convince us that Sleigh Bells are still menacing outliers, but on a deep cover mission to infiltrate the mainstream, horns still poking out of their '80s mullet wigs."[13] Pitchfork's Evan Rytlewski viewed the album as "a hodgepodge of clashing sounds and concepts that's united only by its indiscriminate maximalism", adding that "the duo has never seemed to be trying harder than they are here, so although Jessica Rabbit is even more scattershot than Bitter Rivals was, it at least has a sense of showmanship that album didn't."[14] Josh Goller of Slant Magazine remarked that the album's "greater emphasis on melody, along with its more diverse, if occasionally too random, structure, clearly comes from savvier musicians who are more aware of their own tendencies and flaws, even if they can't always overcome them."[17] Cole Waterman of PopMatters wrote that "the album manages to still sound like Sleigh Bells, though unlike anything they've previously released", but felt that a "bloated tracklist of 14 songs is baffling [and] the middle section bears the brunt of this quality dip. Had they edited it down to a more succinct 10 or even nine songs, such a knock could have been largely avoided."[15] Kevin Warwick of The A.V. Club expressed that "though Krauss does her damnedest to work with the quick-shifting rhythms and deep grab bag of ideas on Jessica Rabbit, she still sounds like she's trying to keep up with its zigzagging movement."[9]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks are written by Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, except where noted. All tracks produced by Sleigh Bells

No.TitleLength
1."It's Just Us Now"3:09
2."Torn Clean"1:21
3."Lightning Turns Sawdust Gold"3:17
4."I Can't Stand You Anymore" (writers: Miller, Krauss, Mike Elizondo)4:01
5."Crucible"3:01
6."Loyal For"1:58
7."I Can Only Stare"3:33
8."Throw Me Down the Stairs"2:42
9."Unlimited Dark Paths"3:14
10."I Know Not to Count on You"2:19
11."Rule Number One"4:04
12."Baptism by Fire" (writers: Miller, Krauss, Elizondo)4:23
13."Hyper Dark"3:13
14."As If"2:43
Limited edition vinyl bonus 7-inch[18]
No.TitleLength
1."Champions of Unrestricted Beauty"3:49

Personnel[edit]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Jessica Rabbit.[19]

Sleigh Bells[edit]

  • Sleigh Bells – production
  • Alexis Krauss – melodies, vocals
  • Derek Miller – beats, design, drums, engineering, guitar, layout, melodies, percussion, piano, synths, words

Additional personnel[edit]

  • Brent Arrowood – engineering
  • Andrew Dawson – mixing (tracks 1–10, 12–14)
  • Mike Elizondo – engineering (all tracks); executive production (tracks 4, 7, 9, 11–13); synths (tracks 4, 7, 12)
  • Jeffrey Fettig – engineering
  • Adam Hawkins – engineering (all tracks); mixing (track 11)
  • Will Hubbard – design, layout
  • Joe LaPorta – mastering
  • Brian Montuori – artwork
  • Simeon Spiegel – engineering
  • Shane Stoneback – engineering
  • Nick Sylvester – engineering
  • Chris Zane – engineering

Charts[edit]

Chart (2016) Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[20] 35
US Billboard 200[21] 187
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[22] 12
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[23] 8
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[24] 19
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[25] 2

Release history[edit]

Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom November 11, 2016
  • CD
  • digital download
 Lucky Number Music[26]
United States
  • CD
  • LP
  • digital download
 Torn Clean

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bortoli, Danilo (November 14, 2016). "Review: Sleigh Bells, Jessica Rabbit". Pretty Much Amazing. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  2. ^ "Rule Number One (2016) | Sleigh Bells". 7digital (US). Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  3. ^ "Hyper Dark (2016) | Sleigh Bells". 7digital (US). Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  4. ^ "I Can Only Stare (2016) | Sleigh Bells". 7digital (US). Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  5. ^ Strauss, Matthew (August 24, 2016). "Sleigh Bells Announce First New Album in Three Years, Jessica Rabbit". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  6. ^ "Sinderlyn / Torn Clean Announce Sleigh Bells' Jessica Rabbit". Sinderlyn. August 30, 2016. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Reviews for Jessica Rabbit by Sleigh Bells". Metacritic. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  8. ^ a b Phares, Heather. "Jessica Rabbit – Sleigh Bells". AllMusic. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Warwick, Kevin (November 11, 2016). "On Jessica Rabbit, Sleigh Bells pushes it to—and then past—the limit". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  10. ^ a b Hunt, El (November 11, 2016). "Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit". DIY. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  11. ^ a b Adcock, Lee (November 14, 2016). "Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  12. ^ a b Mumford, Gwilym (November 10, 2016). "Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit review – noisepop duo branch out". The Guardian. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  13. ^ a b Beaumont, Mark (November 11, 2016). "Sleigh Bells – 'Jessica Rabbit' Review". NME. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  14. ^ a b Rytlewski, Evan (November 8, 2016). "Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  15. ^ a b Waterman, Cole (November 16, 2016). "Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit". PopMatters. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  16. ^ a b Grant, Sarah (November 10, 2016). "Review: Sleigh Bells' 'Jessica Rabbit' Expands Duo's Explosive Noise". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  17. ^ a b Goller, Josh (October 30, 2016). "Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit". Slant Magazine. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
  18. ^ "Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit LP (Ltd Edition Blood Red Splatter Vinyl) + 7-Inch + Signed Print". TM Stores. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  19. ^ Jessica Rabbit (liner notes). Sleigh Bells. Torn Clean. 2016. TC001.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  21. ^ "Sleigh Bells Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  22. ^ "Sleigh Bells Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  23. ^ "Sleigh Bells Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  24. ^ "Sleigh Bells Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  25. ^ "Sleigh Bells Chart History (Vinyl Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  26. ^ "Lucky Number Music :: Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit". www.luckynumbermusic.com. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
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