Musicians are fond of crediting any number of cosmic events and slippery muses for their success, but sometimes the answer is much simpler.
“Honestly, the first word that comes to mind is ‘luck,’ ” said Derek Miller, one half of the hard-hitting Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells. “Lots and lots of ridiculous luck and coincidences.”
That might sound painfully unsexy to the divine-inspiration camp, but most musicians would be ecstatic to have Miller’s luck.
It’s been less than a year since his noisy, experimental pop duo first stepped on stage, but already Sleigh Bells is playing festivals such as Coachella and South by Southwest and nabbing unqualified raves from critics at The New Yorker and influential indie music website Pitchfork.
The band is set to drop its debut album, “Treats,” on May 11 as a joint release between Mom + Pop Music and NEET Recordings — the label owned by Grammy-nominated electro-pop maven M.I.A.
“There’s a lot of expectations, especially when anything has ‘hype’ around it,” said Miller, whose band plays the Bluebird Theater on Saturday with fellow Brooklynites Yeasayer. “A ton of people want to shoot it down, and understandably so, but we’re still really new.”
A former member of Florida hardcore act Poison the Well, Miller began producing rhythmic, hook-laden songs while living in New York, but his music didn’t come alive until he met vocalist Alexis Krauss — and quite by accident.
Krauss and her mother walked into a restaurant where Miller was working as a waiter. After chatting about their shared Florida past, Miller sprang his musical master plan on Krauss.
“I remember when I was describing to her what I wanted to do, it just made perfect sense to her,” he said. “I’m sure I sounded like an idiot, but she totally understood me.”
A week later, the two were working on music together — though Krauss would have to push her bilingual teaching job to the back burner before Sleigh Bells could really ignite.
“There’s a chemistry between the mood of her voice and her range and tone in general that complements what I’m trying to do just absurdly well,” Miller said. “It just so happens a lot of the melodies I write are in a higher register that suits her perfectly.”
Indeed, Krauss’ sugary vocals instantly bring Miller’s distorted beats and warped melodies to life on songs such as “Infinity Guitar” and “Crown on the Ground.” It’s also no surprise that M.I.A. — for whom Miller has done production work — gravitated toward the band after director Spike Jonze played her Sleigh Bells’ hastily recorded, lo-fi EP last year.
The two acts share an affinity for jagged riffs and volume over clarity, absorbing the most basic and propulsive elements of hip-hop, hard rock and synth pop before spitting them out again as irresistible, in-your-face dance anthems.
Miller’s hardcore past may have had something to do with that.
“There’s something threatening about volume and something interesting happens when it gets heavy for me — especially in the live setting,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to just exist on the stage doing something that wasn’t threatening or confrontational in a way.”
Despite the urge to see the last few months as a movie montage of obscure club duo-turned-national buzz band, Miller just wants people to hear Sleigh Bells’ first record.
“What’s weird for me is that the demos are all anyone has. I keep forgetting our record’s not out there and none of peoples’ (opinions) are based on that. Which is kind of odd, but it’s flattering too. We’re just psyched to get out and play.”
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com
“SLEIGH BELLS.”
Dance-pop. Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., with Yeasayer. Saturday. 8 p.m. Sold out. 303-377-1666 or
