Sleigh Bells played The Sinclair – 9/13

In anticipation of their forthcoming LP Jessica Rabbit, noise-pop disruptors Sleigh Bells embarked on a fall tour of festival gigs and small club dates that stopped at Sinclair on Tuesday night. 

The last time I saw Sleigh Bells, I didn’t have a particularly good time. I’ll blame it partially on being shut out of two other shows I badly wanted to see that night (High on Fire/Kvelertak/Doomriders at the Middle East Downstairs and Cut Copy across town at House of Blues), but something about the gig itself – which took place at Royale on the band’s 2013 Bitter Rivals tour – felt off as well. The new songs weren’t connecting and the band’s bombastic appeal was muted. After Tuesday’s show, I’m glad I opted to give them another shot.

2010’s Treats sprang Sleigh Bells – the duo of vocalist Alexis Krauss and guitarist Derek Miller – into the spotlight with a divisive and earsplitting bang. Its fusion of overdriven metal guitars, blown-out hip-hop beats and earworm vocal turns was objectively pretty ridiculous, but simultaneously carried a strange allure. Those sugar-rush choruses and blaring riffs stuck with you, and they certainly didn’t sound like anything else out there. 2012’s followup Reign of Terror wisely sidestepped recreating that style beat for beat, focusing on more complex songwriting and a richer sonic approach awash in shoegaze-y guitars. But with the following year’s Bitter Rivals, the band seemingly tried to split the difference between its predecessors and came up with an inferior product that failed to strike a chord critically or otherwise.

Three years later – their longest break yet between records – this run of shows prior to Jessica Rabbit‘s November release feels like Sleigh Bells warming up for a reboot. The Sinclair is the smallest room they’ve ever played in Boston, and Tuesday night found them road-testing new songs and delivering fan-favorites to an enthusiastic sold-out crowd. Strobe lights battered the packed floor and bass rattled the walls as Krauss and Miller – joined by a second touring guitarist – opened with “Tell ‘Em.” While Miller and his counterpart largely churned out the riffs in workmanlike fashion, Krauss immediately demonstrated her masterful command of a crowd, which she had in the palm of her hand for the remainder of the night.

Though it was difficult to get a proper sense of the new material in the chaotic live setting, it certainly sounded promising. And as for the old stuff, rest assured that “Infinity Guitars” and “Crown on the Ground” are still a total blast, particularly when they’re raining down upon you at an immense volume. As a general impression, time away seems to have done Sleigh Bells some good.

Opening duties for the night were handled by Los Angeles-based Miya Folick and her band, whose artfully-minded tunes bore a unique songwriting voice – and a powerful singing one.

Photos from both sets below.