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Sleigh Bells at the Moody Theatre on Saturday night. From the outset, one thing’s for sure — this lady (Alexis Krauss) is crazy. She weds a hard rock/yelling-dominated voice with punchy, often rough, electro. The explosiveness of Sleigh Bells calls to mind Skrillex’s non-melodic beats (sounds?). Unlike the Santigold set earlier in the night, Alexis knows how to work a crowd: crowd surfing, lots of pump up ‘Are we gonna dance?!’ remarks.
“Alright Austin, better see you guys losin’ your shit!” She shifts between a sing-songy voice and these frenzied, uncontrolled yelps of emotion. And we call this music? But, hey, it’s definitely quite danceable and sure gets a rise out of people.
She could probably get a tip or two from metal wizards, as her cuts could easily lead to a headbanging and moshing mess. In sum: is there more of an extreme in popular music these days?
A music industry, journalist and fanatic's take on exploring SXSW from the ground up
