Over the next 11 weeks I’ll dig deep into the 2014 Coachella Music Festival lineup, featuring one band per day. The purpose of this piece is to assist in difficult decisions that inevitably you’ll need to make, as well as, serve as a fun countdown to Coachella Week. Note: All bands appear in a completely random order… Enjoy, and let the countdown continue!
Day 48 = Sleigh Bells
Performing = Saturday
Sleigh Bells are an extremely loud piece of work that consists of the duo Alexis Krauss (vocalists) and Derek Edward Miller (guitarist). That’s all, just those two, therefore one must ask themself, where in gods name is all that noise coming from.
The two are a Brooklyn based noise pop outfit that formed back in 2009. I’m sure you’ve heard the story a thousand times by now but… Derek, former guitarist for the band Poison The Well, was waiting tables at a Brazilian bistro in Brooklyn, circa July 2008. In walks elementary school teacher Alexis and her Mom to grab a bite. Derek strikes up a conversation with the younger Krauss (who wouldn’t) about “some tapes,” says he’s looking for some chick for the vocals. The elder Krauss steps up to the plate and volunteers her daughter for the gig, thinking her days singing lead in the teenybopper group RubyBlue should suffice. Miller and Krauss (the younger one) end up “meeting at the park” to listen to the demo tapes and… There you have it, Sleigh Bells!
Let me first say that I really dig Sleigh Bells, but only in moderation. Sleigh Bells are not, I repeat not for everyone, you either like them or you don’t, there’s no in-between. Although you may like them, you rarely ever say… hey let’s throw on some Sleigh Bells. Sometimes when they come on the radio, I turn the channel in spite of the fact I like them.
Not to brag, I’ve been there since the beginning, back in the days when you Google Sleigh Bells and all you get is pages upon pages of Burl Ives and Christmas decorations. After countless attempts to find out more about Sleigh Bells The Band, Present Tenses’ friend Joziah from Sirius XMU finally shed some light on where a free download of the addictive song (at the time) “Crown On The Ground” could be located.
We showed up at Coachella 2010 with DJ DEEp singing the praises of Sleigh Bells… Sleigh Bells this and Sleigh Bells that, nobody better miss Sleigh Bells, blah blah blah, and then everyone lost their hearing, sorry bout that folks. The band performed a very brief “technical difficulty” ladened set that lasted the better part of 20 minutes, just long enough to cause serious hearing damage.
The duo have since released three studio albums: Treats in 2010, and what a treat that was, 2011’s Reign Of Terror, and Bitter Rivals that dropped in October of last year. In addition, the two have gone down the path of selling-out (and good for them), as they’ve allowed the tunes “Infinity Guitars” and “Rill Rill” to be used to help pimp Windows and Apple mobile devices .
Since Sleigh Bells appearance in the desert in 2010, the two have joined a unique group of acts that have played Coachella in consecutive years. In addition to the 10 &11 appearances, the two were on the first every Coachella Cruise Line in 2012, and will make their third desert appearance in five years next month. I think my ears have made a full recovery (my wife may beg to differ), and I’m looking forward to checking out Alexis and Derek again. Just where they land in my Top 40 remains to be seen.
Whether you like Sleigh Bells or not, indie rock is a much better place with Sleigh Bells apart of it.
Visit the Sleigh Bells website here:
http://www.bitterrivals.us/
Recommended listening:
“Infinity Guitars”
“Comeback Kid”
“Bitter Rivals”
GoINDEEpMusic