The saddest I’ve been in recent memory was when I had to forfeit my tickets to the off-the-rails rave that Brooklyn noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells hosted at my favorite concert venue in the world, Cain’s Ballroom. I love sweaty shows. I love aggressive, loud pop music. But I had to work, which resulted in Matt being a sad panda for about a month.

This was shortly before I got hired by the good people here at the Gazette, who now help to get me into shows like this (thanks, guys!). I mean, seriously, look how awesome this was, courtesy of expert Tulsa photographer Jeremy Charles:

Today the band announced “Reign of Terror,” the follow-up to its 2010 debut, “Treats,” by way of a video that captures the disturbing, harsh intensity of Derek Miller’s guitar riffage against Alexis Krauss’ chic femininity, dressed up in a military uniform like a Bond villainess who only speaks grunts of Russian. I really hope they somehow wield this thing into an insane dance-pop-metal hybrid.

Bumping around at Norman Music Festival 4, Tulsa rock photographer Jeremy Charles told me not to miss indie-rock dudes And There Stand Empires. In all the buzz and hubbub of about 8 million bands all playing in three days, I completely blanked, which I now regret, having viewed the video below.  

The band releases its self-titled album Dec. 16, and you can bet that I’ll be looking for somewhere to purchase it when I return home to Tulsa for Christmas. The video includes snippets of songs and plenty of footage of the band hashing them out in-studio. Jarod Evans and Chad Copelin of Blackwatch Studios both appear to have produced it, but the thing to watch for here is just how many notes (guitar, xylophone, piano) they can squeeze into a single section of music.

And yes, the act’s sound is as epic as its name.