“Wanna Start A Band?” - Sleigh Bells’ Nostalgic Comeback Single
Photo by Josh Haner / The New York Times
You could call Sleigh Bells’ comeback single, “Wanna Start A Band?” a return to form- crushed, sparkling synth on a bed of grungy, crunchy guitar licks, lyricism no less direct than their game-changing debut album, Treats - but the band’s identity hasn’t meaningfully strayed over the course of their 17 year career. In the early 2010s they were prolific and immediately acclaimed, with a debut EP track “Crown On The Ground” being named one of the best songs of 2009 by Pitchfork. Their instantly recognizable rock-pop-metal fusion sound instantly solidified their place in the canon of seminal alternative music. The first we’ve heard since Texis in 2021, this new era could have easily been nothing more than a victory lap, but from the looks of it, Sleigh Bells is as fresh and self-assured as the day we first heard them. “Wanna Start A Band?” would fit like a glove on an earlier project, namely 2013’s Bitter Rivals, which makes a lot of sense when you discover the song’s riff originates back in 2014.
The career spanning “Wanna Start A Band?” tells Brooklyn duo Sleigh Bells’ origin story. Appropriately straightforward, the story goes: “Do you wanna start a band with me? / Hey, yeah”. Vocalist and producer Alexis Krauss tells NME, “In 2008 while eating at a restaurant in Brooklyn with my mom, our server, Derek [Miller], wasted very little time asking me, essentially, ‘Wanna Start A Band?’. Hard to believe that almost 17 years later we are still hyped and obsessively making records together.” The tone overall is sentimental, an ode to Sleigh Bells’ past, present, and future, but resists being overly syrupy or saccharine- a nostalgic celebration of art and friendship could never drown out the signature brashness of Sleigh Bells prose.
Photo by Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Billboard
With the release of this single came the announcement of a tour, taking place in early summer 2025, with alt-pop Sophie Hunter joining as an opener. This marks the first time Sleigh Bells is hitting the road since Texis. The tour will hit 26 locations across the United States and Canada, starting in Phoenix, AZ on May 7th, and ending in Madison, WI on June 15th. Dates are almost back-to-back - a feat, to be sure - but that kind of energy and stamina is what we’ve come to expect from Sleigh Bells. There’s no album announced yet, but fear not; a tour announcement coming before a confirmed album is standard practice for the band. Their 2021-2022 tour accompanying Texis was dubbed “The Unannounced Album Tour” when it was first revealed.
