Jessica Rabbit (album)

{{Album ratings

| MC = 72/100

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}

| rev2 = The A.V. Club

| rev2Score = C

| rev3 = DIY

| rev3Score = {{Rating|4|5}}

| rev4 = Drowned in Sound

| rev4Score = 9/10

| rev5 = The Guardian

| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}

| rev6 = NME

| rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}

| rev7 = Pitchfork

| rev7Score = 5.9/10

| rev8 = PopMatters

| rev8Score = {{Rating|7|10}}

| rev9 = Rolling Stone

| rev9Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}

| rev10 = Slant Magazine

| rev10Score = {{Rating|3|5}}

}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/jessica-rabbit/sleigh-bells |title=Reviews for Jessica Rabbit by Sleigh Bells |publisher=Metacritic |access-date=November 20, 2016}} 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."{{cite web |last=Adcock |first=Lee |url=http://drownedinsound.com/releases/19725/reviews/4150598 |title=Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit |work=Drowned in Sound |date=November 14, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2016 |archive-date=November 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161120151321/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/19725/reviews/4150598 |url-status=dead }} El Hunt of DIY opined, "Energising Sleigh Bells with rocket-fuel, Jessica Rabbit stands up as the band's most consistent record since Treats."{{cite web |last=Hunt |first=El |url=https://diymag.com/2016/11/11/sleigh-bells-jessica-rabbit-album-review |title=Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit |work=DIY |date=November 11, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2016}} 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."{{cite web |last=Phares |first=Heather |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/jessica-rabbit-mw0002977633 |title=Jessica Rabbit – Sleigh Bells |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=November 20, 2016}} 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".{{cite web |last=Mumford |first=Gwilym |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/10/sleigh-bells-jessica-rabbit-review-alex-krauss-derek-miller |title=Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit review – noisepop duo branch out |work=The Guardian |date=November 10, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2016}} 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".{{cite magazine |last=Grant |first=Sarah |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/review-sleigh-bells-jessica-rabbit-w449736 |title=Review: Sleigh Bells' 'Jessica Rabbit' Expands Duo's Explosive Noise |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=November 10, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2016}}

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."{{cite web |last=Beaumont |first=Mark |url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/sleigh-bells-jessica-rabbit-review |title=Sleigh Bells – 'Jessica Rabbit' Review |work=NME |date=November 11, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2016}} 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."{{cite web |last=Rytlewski |first=Evan |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22571-jessica-rabbit/ |title=Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit |work=Pitchfork |date=November 8, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2016}} 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."{{cite web |last=Goller |first=Josh |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/sleigh-bells-jessica-rabbit |title=Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit |work=Slant Magazine |date=October 30, 2016 |access-date=November 20, 2016}} 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."{{cite web |last=Waterman |first=Cole |url=https://www.popmatters.com/sleigh-bells-jessica-rabbit-2495408095.html |title=Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit |work=PopMatters |date=November 16, 2016 |access-date=March 6, 2018}} 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."{{cite web |last=Warwick |first=Kevin |url=https://www.avclub.com/on-jessica-rabbit-sleigh-bells-pushes-it-to-and-then-p-1798189456 |title=On Jessica Rabbit, Sleigh Bells pushes it to—and then past—the limit |work=The A.V. Club |date=November 11, 2016 |access-date=March 6, 2018}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, except where noted. All tracks produced by Sleigh Bells.

| title1 = It's Just Us Now

| length1 = 3:09

| title2 = Torn Clean

| length2 = 1:21

| title3 = Lightning Turns Sawdust Gold

| length3 = 3:17

| title4 = I Can't Stand You Anymore

| note4 = writers: Miller, Krauss, Mike Elizondo

| length4 = 4:01

| title5 = Crucible

| length5 = 3:01

| title6 = Loyal For

| length6 = 1:58

| title7 = I Can Only Stare

| length7 = 3:33

| title8 = Throw Me Down the Stairs

| length8 = 2:42

| title9 = Unlimited Dark Paths

| length9 = 3:14

| title10 = I Know Not to Count on You

| length10 = 2:19

| title11 = Rule Number One

| length11 = 4:04

| title12 = Baptism by Fire

| note12 = writers: Miller, Krauss, Elizondo

| length12 = 4:23

| title13 = Hyper Dark

| length13 = 3:13

| title14 = As If

| length14 = 2:43

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Limited edition vinyl bonus 7-inch{{cite web |url=https://sleighbells.tmstor.es/cart/product.php?id=29898 |title=Sleigh Bells – Jessica Rabbit LP (Ltd Edition Blood Red Splatter Vinyl) + 7-Inch + Signed Print |publisher=TM Stores |access-date=November 19, 2016}}

| title1 = Champions of Unrestricted Beauty

| length1 = 3:49

}}

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Jessica Rabbit.{{cite AV media notes |title=Jessica Rabbit |type=liner notes |others=Sleigh Bells |publisher=Torn Clean |year=2016 |id=TC001}}

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

{{Div col}}

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

{{Div col end}}

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Category:2016 albums

Category:Sleigh Bells (band) albums