Sometimes bands “leak” their own stuff. Sometimes fans do the job. The rest of the time, it’s Amazon. As Revolt points out, the online retailer has posted a page (since removed) for a forthcoming Sleigh Bells single dubbed “Bitter Rivals,” offering up the ax-heavy track art and a 30-second snippet of the hefty new song. The band was expected to announce their forthcoming third album on September 3, the very same day they were to reveal the first sounds of their next song.
Also, Bitter Rivals is expected to be the title of said album as well, thanks to another Internet wheeler-dealer, CD Universe, which reveals the release date to be October 8, still via Mom + Pop Music (whew). Hopefully Vevo won’t accidentally post the music video — that too is slated to arrive on the third, along with tour dates (but maybe keep an eye on Pollstar for those in the meantime). Lastly, www.bitterrivals.us may or may not be Sleigh Bells’ new website.
As for the song itself, a half a minute is enough time to get a strong impression. The drum-smacking skronk-fest opens with a shout-out to Charles Dickens, then Alexis Krauss goes in about shooting sheriffs, chasing dreams, and pointing weapons at mirrors. It’s brutal stuff whose sonic genealogy comes from the same Rick Rubin-rich broth that gave us Eminem’s new single, “Berzerk.” So much for that cleaner sound. Punk-rap is back, y’all.
