Sleigh Bells – The Lexington, London 09/08/2010

16 August 2010, 12:00 | Written by Adam Elmahdi

(Live)

A truly decent UK band is as rare as a message of tolerance from the Westboro Baptist Church, so for a show to feature not one, but two, British bands of genuine worth is nigh-on miraculous. So maximum kudos to Eat Your Own Ears for picking such excellent home-grown support acts for up-and-coming Brooklyners Sleigh Bells.

Becoming Real’s percussive, buoyant electronica has hints of Holy Fuck, Ratatat and (inevitably) Animal Collective; they transcend the “iMac and sit back” mentality of many of their ilk by actually putting some effort into their live performance, even if their music ultimately centres around a backing track. The same applies for Dalston three-piece TEETH, whose set-up involves vocals, drums and an infinitely cheerful guy wielding a laptop. From a purist’s standpoint, their set could be considered glorified karaoke – a charge that could be levelled with just as much justification at the headliners – but there’s much more to them than that. Certainly, Simon Whybray’s impassioned drumming catches the attention (and commits GBH against the ears), and Veronica So almost steals the thunder from Sleigh Bells with her spirited performance – she’s no great shakes as a singer, but their shouty electro-punk doesn’t call for angelic harmonies. Plus, whilst unbearable pretension is always an clear and present danger when dealing with East London bands, TEETH manage to come across like genuinely nice guys, who enjoy performing almost as much as we enjoy watching them.

But the night ultimately belongs to Sleigh Bells and rightfully so. With live instrumentation limited to guitar and voice, their show lives or dies on the strength of Alexis Krauss’ performance and tonight, she delivers. Her aggressive dynamism is a perfect fit for their mix of uncompromising abrasiveness and straight-out pop sensibilities; despite the sparseness of their set-up, it almost feels like the Lexington stage is too small to contain such energy. The band rarely deviate from a single song template (basically MIA overlaid with guitars so loud they should be banned by international treaty) but in short bursts the formula works beautifully. They throw the occasional down-tempo moment into the mix- the Funkadelic-sampling bubblegum pop of ‘Rill Rill’ for instance, but any song lacking Derek Miller’s overdriven guitars brings into sharp relief the fact you’re essentially paying to watch a lady sing over a backing track.

Forty five minutes may seem short for a headline spot, but it’s the perfect length for a band like Sleigh Bells who lack the diversity to hold a more substantial set together. Any longer, and they could well have overstayed their welcome. But in fairness, they couldn’t have possibly topped ‘Crown On The Ground’ anyway. Punctuated with violent synth stabs that could pierce concrete and treble levels that’d send your parents running to the hills, it triggers a spate of impromptu crowdsurfing resulting in Krauss being carried aloft by the crowd, the audience singing along to every word. Style-over-substance, maybe, and a one-trick pony to boot but in terms of enjoyment elicited, Sleigh Bells are unimpeachable.