Sleigh Bells – Live & New

Judging by the taped-over logos and smoke machine-decked stage Saturday night at New York’s (le) Poisson Rouge (QRO venue review) on October 5th, Alexis Krauss and production partner Derek Miller’s output leading up to the newly-released Bitter Rivals earned Sleigh Bells the set-up nuances and full crowd capacity since their first LPR booking four years ago.  “Last time it was just two of us and an iPod,” Krauss joked (partly to their new live drummer) catching a quick breath through her lipstick-framed smile while Miller tuned up and lead into the rapid-fire set list with energy for arena dates and lighting moving at the image speed of their videos.  Despite the addition of a new drummer promoted as the major change to Sleigh Bells, Krauss’s girl-gang bubblegum chewing stage persona dominated over the pre-recorded tracks and Miller’s decibel shredding guitar, shedding the leopard-print boxing robe from their title promotional video into sneaker-ready cutoffs and mesh.  After several years stylizing bubblegum-sticking and pulling high-school fire alarms (the world gets it already, Sleigh Bells orchestrates the popular girl’s afterschool fights), the visual image of the show read less playground taunt gimmick and more aggressive, athletic delivery on the part of Krauss’s reputation for killing three times in the ring (brass knuckles out, cooing in sneakers the next, like the high school cheerleader that rivals and runs rings around the popular girls with the boys backing her up).

Following the mixed reviews of their slowed-down sophomore album (QRO review), LPR’s release set cemented what doesn’t come through in the balance and arrangements of Bitter Rivals and their previous full-length: Sleigh Bells so consistently exceeds live expectations, so well that when their bedroom beginnings pulled back on their penultimate LP (with live showpieces like “Born to Lose” that’s amplified with the live drummer addition), returning to the quickened rhythms and dominant guitar licks live that pushed the dynamics, which made their debut studio album so marked and replayable.  As the audience fixed cameras on Krauss’s hyper stage moves, mic pumping, amp-climbing, audience eruptions came less at the start and close of new material than staples like “Crown on the Ground”, “Infinity Guitars” and “Demons”.  As the promo videos drop throughout the run of upcoming tour dates in Chicago and elsewhere, all the energy and light flash setup at LPR’s record release promised just as much dancing and head-banging as Krauss will have crowds on this jaunt shouting along like the arena show Sleigh Bells puts on every small stage she crosses and confronts.

Set list:

Minnie
Comeback Kid
Tiger Kit
Crown on the Ground
Bitter Rivals
True Shred Guitar
Kids
Demons
Born To Lose
You Don’t Get Me Twice
Riot Rhythm
Infinity Guitars
encore
Young Legends
Sing Like A Wire

-Michelle Sinksy

A/B Machines