Hey, everyone. My name is Giggens, and we're here today for a review of the brand new Sleigh Bells album, Bunky Becky Birthday Boy.

It's been a minute since we've had some new Sleigh Bells, and I think that time off for them was needed and beneficial. Their last record, Texas, was good and followed the darker themes of Jessica Rabbit, but in my little tiny internet opinion, it just didn't feel as cohesive as some of their earlier records. But this album, I feel like, brings back that cohesiveness, and they made one of the best albums of their discography.

The title track "Bunky Pop" was written for Alexis's dog Riz. I guess it was either written during this dog, unfortunately, beginning to pass away or had passed away at this point. But they wanted to capture the energy and the spirit and the spunk of a puppy and what that brings you in a relationship. It's like, any situation you might be involved in with a dog. They wrote this as an anthem for Riz, and it leaves you with a smile on your face. The anthemic energy behind this thing is so propulsive and so in your face. The huge explosive drums, the big fat guitar sound. It sounds like classic Sleigh Bells, but with a new twist. The hunger on this track and many others is palpable and just delicious on the ears. If you've been wanting new Sleigh Bells that sounds like older Sleigh Bells, but with a whole different drive, a whole different purpose behind it, this is one of those singles you need to check out.

"Wanna Start a Band" comes up next, and I really, really dig this one. There's a line that goes, "It's personal, not business." It's almost like, if we're going to make music together, it's like, this is something that I need to do for my heart. Whether or not it becomes a big project and I make money from it, this is something my soul needs.

"Life Was Real" is a pretty honest song about figuring out who you were at different points of your life. Even though those points in your life may have been a drag to go through at the time, they were honest. It's about accepting those times and figuring out how they helped you get to where you are now and understanding that no matter how hard they were, maybe you needed to go through those times. Alexis's voice on this one is really tender, and you hear the soul in her voice really well. Obviously, it's a Sleigh Bells song, so it's going to rock along the way. But there's a heartfelt delivery to this one that sets it apart from the two previous tracks.

"Roxette Ric" feels like a character song, but it might be also slightly autobiographical. It's a song about following your rock and roll dreams, or in this sense, your pop metal dreams. I love the chirpy glass-sounding production, like a don't stop til you get enough feel. The chorus is just pop rock goodness. It's so smooth smooth on the ears, and the chugging that happens at the end of the song, it just rocks along so cool.

"This Summer" is probably one of the more straightforward tracks on the album, or one of the more straightforward ones they've done in general. But I like how the song progresses, even though it is straightforward, it does have enough changes. It's a Sleigh Bells song after all. The really aggressive bridge, the beautiful middle bit that allows itself to breathe before jumping back into that huge chorus. Is it about accepting change or fearing it, knowing it's going to happen anyway? How do you comprehend How do you get ready for it? And that line, "Oh my God, oh, mercy me." That's like a vocal album highlight. I love that moment.

The intro to "Can I Scream?" sounds like the most terrifying ice cream truck I've ever heard, but I love the huge stop-start moments that they're really good at those breakbeat things. The classic hand claps, the great reverb on Alexis's voice and the chorus. And potentially, for me, this song is about deep soul searching. Sometimes you can't find those words to express yourself, so you might just have to scream it.

"Badly" comes up next, and this is like the party anthem for the summer. It's just like this party is so cool, the music rocks, and we're having a great time. The positivity and optimism throughout this track is a nice break from the last one, which lyrically was heavy, but I love the chirpy synthy sounds that happen throughout the verse, whether or not it's a synth. It might actually be a guitar. But it just rocks along so well in the pop rock vein.

At this point in the album, the sequencing has just worked so well. You've been on a bit of a rollercoaster up and down the whole way through, which, as any music fan knows, is a mark of a good album. "Blasted Shadow" for me – maybe I'm reading again too deeply into this, but I feel like the lyrical content of this one is about having that animalistic wild energy about caring for somebody and loving their flaws. Maybe you don't like what you see in yourself, but somebody loves that so much that it's almost like this weird hunger to prove to you why you're great.

"Real Special Cool Thing" is a nice, simple, straight-up love song. That's all there is. It's really cool to hear something like that, the Sleigh Bells song. I love those moments where they take it back a little bit. Again, it's going to rock, but the more tender moments of this song shine really well, ending with the acoustic bit. I love that combination of it's rocking hard, there's a lot of heart and soul, and then ending on a little acoustic refrain. It's like a little breather.

We're almost at the end of the album here, and "Hi Someday" is a track that I feel like you have freedom to do what you want to do, but it's almost like that freedom could be constricting because maybe you're going down the rabbit hole of doing things that aren't great for yourself, and you understand that you have the power to change things, but it's like, how do you find that power in yourself? This song chugs on and doesn't ramble, but it gets to the point at the end where it repeats phrases over and over again. It's like it's searching. It's trying to find that resolve.

I feel like it does in the last track with "Pulse Drips Quiet". It just sounds like a fitting closing song. I love the super powerful "I'll be true to death" moments in the chorus because it's like the earnest honesty that happens throughout this album captured in those moments. It's a great line, but I feel like it offers some resolve.

The album itself does take you on a journey of having great times, reflecting on people or friends or animals that might not be here anymore, looking inside yourself and figuring out where you're going and what you've done. I feel like no matter what, as long as you're true to yourself, you can get through anything. I think screaming that in the chorus at the end is a great cherry on top.

This LP really does sound like a new chapter for Sleigh Bells. I know they've had a lot of changes in their own lives personally in the last couple of years, and I think that positivity radiates on this record.

This album finds them exploring sounds and textures that they've done throughout their catalog, but with a newfound tenacity to be like, You know what? Yeah, we helped popularize that noise hyperpop genre, and then maybe we got lost in the shuffle with it. But guess what? We're back, and we're still the pioneers. We're still leading that pack. You guys got to come catch up to us again.

They sound free. They sound stoked about their art, and we, the listener, are all the better for it. For me, it's one of the best albums they've made in about a decade. I love this record a lot, so I'm feeling a strong 7 out of 10.

Anthony Fantano, Sleigh Bells, Forever.