Considering the speed with which the tickets for this show sold out, it’s a safe bet that this will likely be the last time in a long while that we’ll see explosive duo Sleigh Bells in a venue as small as the Rock and Roll Hotel. The overabundance of praise heaped on vocalist Alexis Krauss and guitarist Derek Miller certainly has some validity: their formula of engaging female vocals paired with violent beats certainly worked for their label head, a little-known performer named M.I.A. Add in guitar riffs that sound like they came from a post-hardcore veteran (which they did: Miller’s last band was Poison the Well) and their debut album, Treats sounded like a machine gun being wielded by a cheerleader. Which is to say, a bona fide hit.

Sleigh Bells’ live show turned this already overstimulating combination up to eleven, or maybe way past it. The music was as loud as I’ve ever heard it at the Hotel, and the strobe lights hitting the darkened stage would have sent any epileptic out on a stretcher. Furthermore, the twee elements of Krauss’ voice seemed to give way to the more powerful characteristics. Although she certainly sang sweetly during songs like set bookends “Tell ‘Em,” and “Rill Rill,” Krauss swung around the stage without abandon and had no problem shouting into the microphone or even squealing, siren-style, when the song called for it — such as during “Infinity Guitars” and “Straight A’s.”