The Sleigh Bells

Our Rating:

9

I can’t escape the bells. No, I am not suffering from chronic tinnitus, which I understand is more like a buzzing in your ear than a ring. Nor do I have Bell’s Palsy, which I understand makes it very hard to hold a mouthful of water or keep your eye closed at night, which is OK because James Hetfield implored us all to sleep with one eye open, anyway. More cowbell? Please, and be sure to really explore the studio space.

No, I am talking about the seemingly endless supply of good bands that have chosen to include Bell as part of their name. If Bell Biv Devoe was the first name that jumped into your mind, you are not alone. The group’s 1990 smash “Poison” came out as my high school career was winding up and included one of the first mainstream, female-inspired threats from one celeb to another, the famous, “Rob Moore You’re Dead” lyric targeted at the former NY Jet wide receiver. It is amazing to think about how many records were sold on the back of New Edition. Bobby Brown’s solo career, Ralph Tresvant’s solo career, Johnny Gill’s solo career, and, aside from BBD, Bivins was responsible for Boyz II Men and Another Bad Creation. I swing my beats AT THE PLAYGROUND! I just read that they are working on getting the group back together; presumably, the bell hath not tolled for them yet.

Back to the present, most of the bells are of the indie rock flavor. If you follow the blast, you’re already familiar with Broken Bells and their eponymous 2010 debut record which made many blasters mid year top 5 list. Bell X1 are Irish rockers whose 2009 “Blue Lights On The Runway” is deserving of your attention. If you’re looking for something a little more twee, you can always spoon up some of Scotland ’s Belle & Sebastian. These days, to have indie cred, it helps to rock the Bells.

Brooklyn ’s Sleigh Bells are one of those bands that rocketed right through all my filters. I mostly play in the indie rock garden and all of my trusted podcasts, blogs and magazines have been hyping these guys, with good reason. Backing a powerful female voice with a wall of sound is a well established rock tradition that harkens back to genius producer and convicted murderer Phil Spector. Sleigh Bells sets up vocalist Alexis Krauss like some kind of riot grrl cheerleader, chanting her lyrics on top of pounding drum machine beats and Derek Miller’s fuzzy guitar licks. Miller and Krauss and their drum machine are all there is to Sleigh Bells. They are noisy and dissonant, and I think the record will turn a lot of people off because of the relentlessness of the beats. But, I am a sucker for wall of sounds meets fuzzy guitars meets non screaming female voice. I dig the Bird and the Bee, I dig Dirty Projectors and I really dig Sleigh Bells.

Centrifuge Tracks:
Tell ‘Em, Kids, Infinity Guitars, Rill Rill, A/B Machines

Live version of Sleigh Bells’ “Infinity Guitars” featuring Alexis Krauss in hot pants 

BBD – “Poison”

Another Bad Creation – “Playground”

Broken Bells – “The Ghost Inside”

More Cowbell

Ted Singer

More About the Author

Ted Singer

They say Rock and Roll is a young man's game. When I turned 27, my grandmother's response was, "That's not young". What does that mean now that I am pushing 40? My wife thinks that my friends and I sitting around listening to music is juvenile (ok, maybe she not just talking about the music listening). I live and work in northern Westchester County, NY among lots of lawyers and investment bankers. I have a bunch of kids and pets, I coach youth teams, I go to couples dinners. No, I am not Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty" - there are no teenage cheerleaders trying to bed me and Ricky Fitts isn't trying to sell me weed for $2000 a baggie. I like my cliched suburban life. But, everybody needs something. Music is my book club, poker night, softball league and mah jong circle. I don't have a lot of time to listen every week, so I count on a lot of different filters (friends, podcasts, blogs, magazines) to guide golden musical nuggets to my pan. We spend our life being sifted through filters, and sifting the non-stop barrage of information coming at us. Each week, I'll let you know what album my filters let through. Despite my slide into middle age, I am trying to not go gentle into that good night. Who know, maybe there's still time to be Bill Graham (pictured)? If not, at least I can pretend to be Lester Bangs.

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