Diverse backgrounds come together for a satisfying concert

With a musical background that varies from thrash metal to teen pop and a peculiarly Christmas-related band name, the Brooklyn-based Sleigh Bells might seem all over the place to outsiders. But after receiving a surge of buzz when a few of their songs leaked onto the Internet last year, and then garnering even more attention after the official release of their debut album Treats back in May, the overnight success of Sleigh Bells is every aspiring musician’s dream come true.

On Wednesday, Los Angeles got a taste of this uniquely chaotic indie group when Sleigh Bells played a sold-out show at the El Rey Theatre to screaming fans who danced — much like the band’s recipe for super-stardom — all over the place.
Sleigh Bells is the brainchild of guitarist and producer Derek E. Miller, who has been working on the band’s distinct sound ever since departing from the hardcore band, Poison the Well.

He met vocalist Alexis Krauss while waiting on her and her mother at a Brazilian restaurant called Miss Favela in Brooklyn and thought Krauss’ dreamy voice was the missing ingredient to his blown-out guitar riffs and thumping drum beats.

How these two worlds of music can collide so beautifully makes absolutely no sense on paper, especially since Krauss’ creative oeuvre includes modeling for Nickelodeon Magazine, teaching grade school and singing in a teen pop band called Rubyblue.

The only possible explanation for the band’s mounting popularity is the kind of harmonious magic achieved only under the oddest of circumstances — their music’s artistic statement leaves a far greater impression to listeners than the sum of its parts.

And as a result, the band has performed at high-profile music festivals such as Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and the Pitchfork Music Festival over the past year, while many of their songs continue to be remixed and sampled by other artists of all musical genres.

Whether you get them or don’t get them, Sleigh Bells is truly the beginning of something special in the indie scene. To classify the band’s sound, which mixes noise rock, shoegaze, house and electro, would be an injustice to their varied group of fans. The best way to describe them is just loud.

So loud in fact that many of their songs feature heavy guitar riffs synthesized through some kind of “blown speakers” effect. The resulting sound is like putting the entire apocalypse in a blender and then asking a jaded Britney Spears to sing a lullaby over it all to balance everything out.

Their exaggerated sound seems to mirror our generation’s overall outlook toward the world — so melodramatic, so anxious and so optimistic that the speakers have already fizzled out by the time enough people start to listen, which is another explanation for their tremendous cult following.

But don’t be scared away by the aggressive demeanor. Beyond the many grindcore dance jams like singles “Crown on the Ground” and “Tell ’Em,” Sleigh Bells’ music also contains a smooth, balancing element that dominates certain songs more than others. “Rill Rill,” for instance, was a nice intermission for crowd members who were getting beaten up in the mosh pit.

With a full-sounding piano looped behind Krauss’ sensuous and whimsical vocals, it was almost like the venue had transformed into a Southern blues concert but filtered through a groovebox to maintain the established aesthetic.

Other songs use simplicity to dampen the shrilling guitar chords, such as the slow drum rhythm in “Run the Heart.” Krauss herself embodied the same schizophrenic attitude onstage — friendly, sweet and interactive with fans before tossing her hair back and diving headfirst into the crowd.

Signed to both Mom + Pop records and M.I.A.’s label N.E.E.T., it is safe to say that Sleigh Bells is only just beginning a very successful career. Though it might be a while before they have their sound completely mastered and release a new album, their live shows across the country are selling out at lightning speed. And for good reason, too — just ask my deaf ears, sore legs and smiling heart.