

Sleigh Bells
Sleigh Bells – comprised of producer/guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss – announce their seventh album ‘Bunky Becky Birthday Boy‘ out April 4th via Mom+Pop Music. A celebration of the pairâs unbelievable friendship, the new record also greets a brand-new (and every bit as explosive) chapter of Sleigh Bells.   Â
Today, the band is sharing the album opener âBunky Pop,â following last monthâs first tease of the new album, âWanna Start A Band?.â The record immediately bounds to life on the effervescent opener, crashing in with gnawing guitar riffs and Kraussâ pulsing chants. âWe wanted the track to sound like a dog having the best moment of her life without any of the burden of self consciousness,â Miller says. ââBunky Popâ informed the entire record, and Bunky Becky kind of became a character woven into every song. We wanted to give her a friend, Roxette Ric, so we could play with a little bit of autobiography and fiction as well.â
Sleigh Bells are so many things: era-defining, a sonic boom of energy, your favorite hyperpop musicianâs favorite reference. But what are Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller to each other? Take away everything else â the critical acclaim, the inexplicable clash of sweet and aggressive, birthed in the late 2000s on Treats and expanded across the next decade on five more albums â Alexis and Derek are simply best friends forever.
 You canât just have soulmate status; it has to be earned. Over the course of nearly two decades, ever since July 2008 when Derek asked Alexis if sheâd consider starting a band with him, Sleigh Bells has been a bedrock and a creative guiding force for both artists. Whatever else may change â cities, jobs, partners, parenthood â Alexis and Derek have seen each other through everything. Now, the duo prepare to launch their seventh album this year, Bunky Becky Birthday Boy.Â
 Following 2021âs Texis, Bunky Becky Birthday Boy blasts into the room with razor-sharp guitars, ultra-sticky pop choruses, floor-shaking rhythms, and indelible chants, which kick off on the albumâs instant-classic opening track. The pair are in constant communication with each other; even when theyâre not actively recording music, theyâre sending tracks back and forth. And thatâs how Bunky Becky Birthday Boy came to be.Â
 The playfully alliterative title is a symbolic quilt, weaving together endings and beginnings while loosely looping in the bandâs own history. ââBunky Beckyâ was a nickname for Alexisâ dog Riz, who passed away in December 2023. When she passed away, Alexis and I had been talking about writing an anthem for her,â Derek says. âAnd then Alexisâ son Wilder was born, and heâs the birthday boy. Even though the title sounds a little ridiculous â and itâs totally okay to laugh at it â with a little bit of context, it’s actually life and death. We lost somebody that we love, and we gained somebody that we love.â
The story of Bunky Becky and Roxette Ric evolves in the swaggering âWanna Start A Band?,â an irresistible collision of glam metal, stabbing synths, vocal whoops, and in-your-face beats. Just as Derek asked Alexis to start a band 17 years ago, âWanna Start A Band?â finds the duoâs alter egos â Becky and Roxette â forming their creative partnership. On the rager-ready âBadly,â Sleigh Bells roll out a quintessential barn burner anthem in the vein of Beastie Boysâ âFight For Your Rightâ and like minded â80s jams. Sleigh Bells seal off the record with âPulse Drips Quiet,â which experiments with rhythm and tone and reflects the duoâs unshakable bond.