A God-awful Small Affair

I don't think anyone was quite so eager to call out for another album so soon but hey ho! Let's roll with it. Their third release in as many years now, the initial shock to the system of Treats in 2010 has, even accounting for the rapidity with which we move through fads in the 21st century, quite completely worn off. That doesn't change the fact, of course, that Treats was a fantastic record - it's quite comfortably in my best five of that year (and with Kanye, Janelle and Arcade Fire, that was a strong year) - but the more critical reactions to 2012's Reign of Terror were the beginning of a fear that Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss had run out of ideas. They've carved themselves such an uncompromising musical direction that it's difficult to both remain punchy and keep the songwriting engaging, without becoming a parody of themselves. Album #3 finds much of the songwriting shifted over to frontwoman Krauss, and considering the debut was largely Mill

I'm really not sure where the time has gone. I mean there's a difference in that I spent time listening to Treats on my bus ride to college whereas now I listen to them on the... bus ride to university, but has it really been 2 years already? It's like the dust from their earsplitting, ground-shattering debut hasn't had time to settle. Those of you who've yet to embrace this particular New York duo should probably be warned that they come as a bit of an assault. Their debut record in 2010 stormed into just about every critics' favour and placed highly on several 2010 lists, but the biggest impact was their infiltration into popular culture. Gossip Girl, FIFA video games, Skins and a handful of movie trailers have used their tunes, and they've been given expert advice and work from the likes of M.I.A. and Spike Jonze. So where do the band cross the bridge from breakthrough to mainstays? Well there's no immediate change of sound, that's for certain. O