Sleigh Bells

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The 2012 Line-up

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Thursday Feb 23 8:00 PM on The Regency Ballroom

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Sleigh Bells
Reign Of Terror
$12.98

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Sleigh Bells is the lo-fi dance-punk duo that arose from a Brooklyn fairy tale of serendipity: lead singer Alexis Krauss met her future bandmate while eating dinner at the Williamsburg restaurant where guitarist and producer Derek Miller worked as a server. Since that fateful night in 2008, Miller’s background as a hardcore guitarist (including a stint in Poison the Well) and Krauss’ experience as a minor teen pop star have merged in a deliciously raucous fashion. Their blistering, ear-searing tracks, punctuated by Miller’s raw drum machine samples and Krauss’ silky, menacing vocals, soon caught the attention of M.I.A., who signed them to her N.E.E.T. Recordings label.

The resulting 2010 debut LP, Treats, was thirty-two minutes of full-on audio assault, less frenetic than Atari Teenage Riot and less polished than Add (n) to X. Since then, Krauss and Miller have embarked on a touring blitz, opening for LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, and Yeasayer, as well as headlining their own tours and anchoring major festival lineups across the US, Europe, and Asia.

At the end of 2011, Krauss and Miller returned to the studio to record their much-awaited sophomore effort. By all accounts, Reign of Terror, which drops just before Noise Pop, demonstrates a clear evolution of the band’s sound. Krauss and Miller shared songwriting duties (Miller had written all their previous work), and the resulting album moves away from blunt force trauma of Treats in favor of a greater emphasis on guitars (from Miller) and pop song structures (from Alexis). “Born to Lose,” the record’s first single, shows clear influence from “Rill Rill,” the sole radio-friendly (read: melodic) track from Treats, while putting a different, more nuanced sheen on the band’s signature gritty percussion and production sound. But don’t expect that visceral energy and clamor to disappear completely: the band isn’t quieting down, but instead has discovered newer, better, and different ways to make amazing noise.

CONNIE HWONG

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