The members of Sleigh Bells ‘deeply care, love and trust each other’ Credit: photo by David Perez

Since 2010, there have been three guarantees in our society.

The first one is that social media gets worse with every passing year. To pine for the days of having a Top 8 and a profile song on MySpace, instead of having AI slop determining the fate of our democracy, is surreal.

The second guarantee is that the Magic are always going to be “rebuilding,” but this year, maybe, just maybe, with the possibility of trading for a certain player whose name rhymes with Biannis who currently hoops for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The third guarantee and the one that is a stone cold lock is that Sleigh Bells are going to release a record that is equal parts noisy, poppy, intense and loud every couple of years. Sleigh Bells — Central Jersey native Alexis Krauss (vocals) and South Florida native Derek Miller (guitar) — delivered on that guarantee this year by releasing their sixth studio record, Bunky Becky Birthday Boy, in early April. The duo will bring the songs of Bunky Becky Birthday Boy and the nostalgia of having “Rill Rill” as your MySpace profile song on Thursday when they come to the City Beautiful to play a show at the Plaza Live.

For Krauss and Miller, making noise on stage is possible by reducing the noise offstage. The duo credits their honesty with each other as the reason the band is almost old enough to graduate from high school.

“We both deeply care, love and trust each other,” explains Krauss to Orlando Weekly. “That is what allows that longevity to thrive. Derek and I aren’t dealing with a lot of other personalities, and those conflicts bring down a lot of bands. And our relationship has been rooted in trust and communication.”

Miller acknowledges that some bands have made great music during times of high tension (exhibit A, Rumours by one Fleetwood Mac), but that isn’t how Sleigh Bells glistens.

“Sleigh Bells stops the moment I don’t have an instrumental where I am kicking her door down to play it for her,” says Miller. “I am not exaggerating. I will text-bomb her when I have a new idea. As long as that happens we will be a band. Having music that you’re dying to play for people is the story of a record. Having a relationship like she was saying sets the stage for that to happen.”

In some ways Bunky Becky Birthday Boy is an ode to their decades of friendship. Even though their friendship is solid, like anything in life, things change. After the release of their previous record, Texis, in 2022, Miller got healthier and Krauss’ dog Riz passed away in 2023. (“Bunky Becky” was a nickname for Riz.) Another change was that Krauss became a mother, and her son is currently on tour with the band. Krauss and her new child are taking it all in.

“We were out on a walk, and Derek had hung Christmas lights where the baby and I were sleeping,” says Krauss. “He was wide-eyed looking at them and was so excited. He is in the moment of development where he is taking every moment of life in. He is surrounded by so many colorful personalities, sounds and experiences. For him it is a whirlwind, but he is up for it and thriving.”

In order to make some noise, you gotta listen to music from different genres. The duo brought up how you can hear influences of Deftones, Cyndi Lauper, Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey on the record. Sleigh Bells was influenced by two very different New York musicians for the song “Badly”: Mariah Carey and Beastie Boys.

“The intro to ‘Badly’ is our vision of the intro to ‘Vision of Love’ by Mariah Carey,” explains Miller. “Ours is much more aggressive and ridiculous because it’s Sleigh Bells. ‘Fight for Your Right to Party’ was a huge inspiration, and there is a party in the lyrics. The Go-Go’s were a big inspiration too, and the opening lyrics are go-go. That wasn’t an accident. The song is a little tongue in cheek.”

“Roxette Ric” is a fun track with a video-game type music intro that still has the signature Sleigh Bells style. The song is also an ode to their younger selves in a way.

“There are two characters on the record,” explains Miller. “The story starts with Becky and Roxette being her best friend and they are polar opposites. It’s not that different from Alexis and I. We’re more alike now, but for a long time I was more of an extreme personality and emotional. Logic and reasoning didn’t play into my decision-making, and Alexis is more measured. This is Roxette’s anthem. She can indulge, but never overindulge, and isn’t super self-destructing.”

Fans can hear “Roxette Ric” and more when Sleigh Bells comes to the City Beautiful. This will be a homecoming of sorts for the band; Krauss has family from Florida and Miller is a native of South Florida.

Miller was going to shows at the old UCF Arena back when the Knights were a D-2 team for football. He was also a Winter Park resident for two weeks and, like most Central Florida music lovers, his life was changed when he entered Park Ave CDs.

“It was like an oasis in a desert,” says Miller about Park Ave. “Orlando is great, but I didn’t expect that record store in Winter Park. I remember going in … there’s an intimidating guy or girl behind the counter. This dude was walking around and I was like, ‘Yo what should I get?’ He walks me to the soul section and gives me a Minnie Riperton record called Come to My Garden. He puts it in my hand and I’m like, ‘Minnie Riperton, what is this all about?’ He goes ‘It’s a Charles Stepney masterpiece, it changed my life.’ And then he walks away. I was like, ‘Oh shit!’ I remember going to my car and putting it in, and it was the first time I have ever heard ‘Les Fleurs’ and now it’s one of my favorite songs of all time. There’s a song on Bitter Rivals called ‘Minnie’ that is a tribute to her. That is what Orlando means to me: discovering Minnie Riperton.”

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This article appears in Summer Guide 2025.