The initial meeting between Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells sounds almost like a scene out of a movie: He was working at a Brooklyn restaurant during the summer; she, a fifth grade public school teacher, was one of his customers and by chance they started talking about music. A mere week later they were recording together and thus, Sleigh Bells were formed.

To make matters even more interesting, the two come from very different musical backgrounds, with Derek playing hardcore and Alexis being part of a pop group during her teens. Their differences seem to have merged though as their current music is a bit of a mix between soft and hard. What really got my attention though were the beats. Upon first hearing their EP 2HELLWU I couldn’t help but wonder what hot shot hip-hop producer these two had teamed up with. Tracks such as ”Infinity Guitars” and “Holly” sound almost like The Kills produced by The Neptunes, while the title track and the sweet “Ring Ring” are much more laid back.

The producing is all Derek’s doing though and according to him, “everything starts with and revolves around a beat; vocal melodies and guitar lines sometimes reinforce a kick pattern”. He also claims to still have a lot of learning to do when it comes to producing, but considering how good it sounds now it can only get better.

While Alexis is currently busy teaching, a full length release is planned for the coming summer. They are also focusing on writing more songs and getting their live set together. Until then you can download their five track EP for free. I highly recommend that you do.

~ “Infinity Guitars”, “Ring Ring”, “Beach Girls” ~