{"id":71699,"date":"2019-11-06T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T14:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=71699"},"modified":"2019-11-04T22:11:42","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T04:11:42","slug":"chastity-belt-chastity-belt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2019\/11\/06\/chastity-belt-chastity-belt\/","title":{"rendered":"Chastity Belt: Chastity Belt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Chastity Belt, a band with many masks, rose to fame with songs titled \u201cPussy Weed Beer,\u201d \u201cCool Slut,\u201d and many variations that make you snort and listen further. The four-piece band from Seattle, comprised of vocalist\/guitarist Julia Shapiro, guitarist Lydia Lund, bassist Annie Truscott, and drummer Gretchen Grimm, released their first full-length record No Regerts<\/em> in 2013, then released two following records, Time to Go Home<\/em> and I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone,<\/em> at two-year intervals. For whatever reason, the break between IUtSSMTA<\/em> and Chastity Belt<\/em> seemed long, maybe because the band noticeably evolved into a darker, more introspective direction with IUtSSMTA<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Chastity Belt<\/em>, the full-length LP released September 2019, is no exception to this new sound. Kicking off with the song \u201cAnn\u2019s Jam\u201d (one of the singles the band released teasing the album), Julia sings of the intimacy of friendship and experiencing life with all of its setbacks and euphoric highs (\u201cThings weren\u2019t always such a blur \/ In 2008, everything was heavier\u201d). And with this new record, the band has emphasized just that \u2014 experiencing the road of life together with chosen family. In an interview for Paste Magazine, they all burst with love for each other, eventually turning talk about the recording process and differences in songwriting from their previous records to the best qualities in each other, gushing in a way that reflects their intimate and over ten-year-long relationship with one another.<\/p>\n

The album itself lasts an appropriate forty-three minutes, with co-production by non other than Melina Duterte of Jay Som \u2014 and even a string feature by the band\u2019s bassist Annie Truscott on violin and the band\u2019s friend Jessica on cello. Chastity Belt<\/em> has stand-out songs, specifically the opening \u201cAnn\u2019s Jam,\u201d with its tender lyrics and beautifully-written melodies, and \u201cIt Takes Time,\u201d a song driven by a swinging drum line and repetitive lead guitar that is sure to be stuck in your head. \u201cEffort\u201d seamlessly incorporates strings into their sound, the strings becoming a leading vocal line of their own. The album continues with the band\u2019s attention to softness and emotional vulnerability; members have stated in an interview with Atwood Magazine regarding their old humor and care-free attitude, \u201cNo one wants to hear a joke more than once.\u201d Although the album has its definite highs, it does leave something to be desired. The last half of the album becomes relatively repetitive, unchanging in style of songwriting or pace. One of the strengths of IUtSSMTA<\/em> was its incorporation of the older, more upbeat and noisier sounds from their first two LPs (although it felt like the band couldn\u2019t figure out a balance), and I hoped that Chastity Belt<\/em> would have either incorporated the two styles more seamlessly or found more freedom in this more sensitive style, but neither happened. All that to say, I still felt an emotional connection to particular songs that keeps me coming back to the LP, and I hope the band can continue to find and develop those strengths.
\n
\nRecommended If You Like: Girlpool, Sasami, IAN SWEET, Lala Lala
\nRecommended Tracks: 1 (Ann\u2019s Jam), 2 (Elena), 4 (Rav-4), 5 (It Takes Time)
\nDo Not Play: 6 (Apart)
\nWritten by Bailey Tredway on 11\/04\/2019 <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chastity Belt’s self-titled fourth album focuses on experiencing the road of life with one’s chosen family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21946,"featured_media":71700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3235,3230,181],"tags":[8407,3009],"class_list":["post-71699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-music-reviews","category-new-music-rotation","category-rock-rotation","tag-bailey-tredway","tag-chastity-belt"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/chastity-belt.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21946"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}