The Stone Pony in Asbury Park is where I saw my first concert ever. That was back in 1995, when Kim Deal, rock goddess of immensely important bands The Pixies and The Breeders traded me a guitar pick from the stage for a ring I gave her. Ever since then, The Pony has been an institution in my life; I’ve seen Sonic Youth, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Be Your Own Pet, Better Than Ezra, and countless other acts there through the years, and every experience has been forever memorable in the best way.
It’s cool that you can see established monster acts and lesser know independent bands in the same venue, often on the same bill. The latest Rock-N-Roll-Hot-Young-Things to come to The Pony are Sleigh Bells, yet another sexy twosome that used the parameters of city living to successfully create booty-shakin’ Electro Dance Rock. They’ve been taking over the underground airwaves and landing their energetic live show at every venue they can hit, from rock clubs like AP’s own Stone Pony to the internationally renowned Coachella Festival in California. (One day, Coachella, it’s gonna be me, you and all the illicit fun this girl can handle!)
The duo met in 2008 when Derek Miller (formerly of hardcore heroes Poison The Well) was waiting tables when Alexis Krauss sat down to dinner. He had been asking literally every woman he met in NYC if they were a vocalist, and Alexis was the first person to take him seriously. “All the other girls thought I was hitting on them.” Your loss, ladies!
Since making music in Brooklyn is largely a function of where and how you can actually access instruments and make noise, the Electronic drumbeats and arrangements that define many bands from that area was a natural direction for the two to pursue, as predecessors like Le Tigre had demonstrated in the previous decade. Sleigh Bells continues the tradition of live guitar and vocals meets recorded backing track, and these two are successful in what could have been a precarious union.
If you like CSS, The Ting-Tings and Matt & Kim, you will definitely dig on this harder interpretation of swaggering, gritty, purposely overdriven guitar lines from Miller and sexy, commanding vocal stylings from Krauss. Be sure to hit this show up at the iconic Stone Pony on Friday May 13th, a great venue with perfect sound and a PhD level of rock cred, and as I’ve said before, PLEASE—Buy me a beer! This rock-n-roll lifestyle doesn’t pay the bills, but it sure is a rollicking good time.
XOXO
Ang
