My including the term “Noise Pop” in the title is not a giant leap or some sort of pejorative meant to insult or to, I guess, show my age. It literally came right out of the Sleigh Bells Wikipedia page. It was important for me to look up this duo because Jill and I recently attended their live show at the 9:30 Club. She and I have been to a lot of concerts together, but this one somehow left a mark and we cannot stop talking about the experience. Here’s why…
I’ll just jump right in and sum it up for you right now…This was hands-down the loudest fucking concert that I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. It was so goddamn loud that it triggered me to want to blog about it. That’s pretty loud, huh? Let me just say that I cannot count myself as a huge Sleigh Bells fan, so I was really there in order to support Jill’s fandom. Also, we knew going in that, based on their sound, we could come to a reasonable conclusion that the music would not be lacking in decibels. We even went equipped with our own hearing protection. What we did not expect was a full body audio experience. It was as if every cell in my body came to attention. My bones rattled for 90 minutes and I think that I almost swallowed my tongue at one point. It was as if my body became the sound wave as I lost all contact with the floor. I had a beer tab open and I would have ordered more than one glass of beer if I thought that I would have been able to swallow its contents. The 9:30 was packed with young people, whom I assume would have considered this audio assault, so…like…whatever. So, while my atoms were being pulled apart, I looked around the scene for anyone crazy enough to NOT have something, anything protecting their ears. I also looked for someone wearing a Guinness World Record jacket, because I figured that we were somehow in on a Sleigh Bells world record attempt.
I’m not going to dog ‘em out too much. The music is good. It’s kind of an extreme, narcotic teen bubble gum style sound with a beat on steroids and an aggressive bass that will place your nuts firmly into the back of your throat. If you don’t believe me, then take your ass over to iTunes and search for Sleigh Bells and check out the albums Treats, Reign of Terror or Kid Kruschev.
I love it when bands scream things like, “What’s up D.C.?” and the crowd usually screams back to express that they are fine…thanks for asking (I guess). Well, on this night Alexis Krauss from Sleigh Bells could have easily have shouted, “Hey D.C. How many of you bitches wants your organs rearranged?” WHOOOOO! Anyway, on my way out I looked for a “I survived the Sleigh Bells 2018 Tour” t-shirt. I didn’t see one. I guess that they sold out…or something.
I’m writing this because during the concert Alexis mentioned that they are going to be coming back…to D.C. Holy Shit, people. Go and bone up on your SB. Download and then listen in your car and turn it up (without your tender-eared kids) because you will need the training. Before the show, go to CVS and get some of those really good ear plugs. They are about $10. If you see me at the show and I’m all glassy-eyed ’n shit, it means that I’ve already gone out of body. We’ll have to do our after action review back in the peace and quiet of Frederick.
Text and image by Dewey Stewart
