When you’re in elementary school it’s always hard to imagine that teachers are three-dimensional humans with outside lives. Now imagine if your teacher was Alexis Krauss, the vocalist for Brooklyn-based duo Sleigh Bells, pictured above right. Krauss, a fifth-grade public school teacher, met bandmate Derek Miller at a restaurant one evening during the summer, and in short time the two had decided to kickstart a musical project.
“A/B Machines” is a danceable tune with a beat that sounds like the footsteps of an approaching ogre. Krauss’s voice is the kind that you could listen to for a long time: versatile and flexible and distinct at the same time, lending itself especially well to riding the solid beats and sonic fuzziness of Sleigh Bells’ unusual pop songs. Thanks to Miller’s production and musical skills, the songs are sticky and perfect for heavy late-summer rotation. Sample the playlist at the band’s MySpace.