As band origin stories go, New York noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells had an impressively quirky first meeting. While working at a Brazilian bistro in Brooklyn, lead guitarist Derek Edward Miller mentioned to two diners, Alexis Krauss and her mother, that he was searching for a female vocalist to collaborate with. With a background as a pop vocalist, Krauss expressed interest, and thus the strange pairing of Miller’s hardcore guitar riffs with Krauss’ chanted and cooed school girl vocals commenced.
Their 2010 debut ‘Treats’ caused quite a stir upon its release, polarizing listeners in a love-it-or-hate-it sort of way and making Bells one of the most talked about new acts at that time. Their highly anticipated second LP ‘Reign of Terror’ dropped in 2012, debuting at number 12 on the Billboard 200 and earning the band a slew of festival slots, commercial tie-ins and media appearances.
‘Bitter Rivals’ is the band’s third release and features more writing from Krauss, who brought in more R&B elements to the record, partially drawing inspiration from Janet Jackson. The songs still hit plenty hard, but they’re more melodic, hook-laden and radio friendly. Krauss shows real talent at crafting catchy melodies on ‘Bitter Rivals’ and the band shows some nice evolution on all fronts.
The title track establishes a playful vibe with heavy undertones, mixing crisp drum production and finger snapping with synth stabs and Miller’s crunchy guitar progressions. Krauss’ vocals are layered and distorted at different octaves for the verses and get stripped bare during the chorus as she chants “You are my bitter rival/ But I need you for survival.”
“Sugarcane” follows with more of the same as catchy guitar riffs and near constant vocal runs from Krauss yield a sugary sweet confection that earns its title. “Minnie” and “Sing Like A Wire” skew a bit harder before “Young Legends” rides in with acoustic guitar and a poppier vibe. After repeated listens there can be some slight blurring between some of the more standard tracks, but on the whole the album has an impressive amount of variety. The deep track “To Hell With You” provides more than enough emotion and ingenuity to keep Sleigh Bells’ fans eager to hear what’s next.
