Sleigh Bells Plow Through Their Catalog in Pittsburgh

If you've spent any time listening to Sleigh Bells' debut, 'Treats,' you know at least one thing about the noise pop duo: they make loud music. From the moment vocalist Alexis Krauss and guitarist/beat maker Derek Miller tore into the opening guitar jolts of 'Tell 'Em' for a sold-out crowd at Pittsburgh's Brillobox Saturday night, that notion could be applied tenfold.

Though Sleigh Bells' set lasted only about 40 minutes, most people left the club drenched in sweat -- a mix of the club's cramped attic aesthetic and the band's complete aural assault, evoking crowd movement that was as much a mosh pit as it was a dance floor.

Krauss kept her banter simple: screaming "What's up, Pittsburgh?" was about as in-depth as it got. But the minimalism suited her just fine. With her vocals more chants than actual melodies, Krauss' role in Sleigh Bells is that of crowd ringleader. Like a less terrifying version of Crystal Castles' Alice Glass, Krauss performed like a cheerleader possessed, flailing and bounding all over the small stage about as quickly as the blinding strobe lights dotted the set.

With "Rill Rill," the closest Sleigh Bells' oeuvre comes to a traditional pop song, Krauss worked the crowd into a steady groove - a welcome respite from the near-violence of the rest of the set.

"Alright, for real," said Krauss, "this is our last f---ing song."

And she meant it -- Sleigh Bells had just about run out of songs. Krauss and Miller bounded offstage, just to return for a short encore with the explosive anthem 'Crown on the Ground.' And that was it: short, sweet and sweaty.

Sleigh Bells may never be the band to play marathon two-hour sets; it's likely that much more than an hour of their propulsive, vicious pop attack would have an audience passed out on the ground. That seems to be the point: to play as loud as possible, as fast as possible, then walk offstage like nothing had happened at all.