A Hipster College Party
With song titles like “Pussy Weed Beer,” “Giant (Vagina)” and “Nip Slip,” you might assume that Chastity Belt is perhaps the summer’s newest trendy rapper. But nope, Chastity Belt is an all-girl post-punk group from Walla Walla (but relocated to Seattle), debuting their sound with a quick ten-track album named No Regerts (no, that isn’t a typo). The four-piece formed while still in college and began playing at college parties in Walla Walla, barely knowing how to play their instruments and trying to attract a drunken, raunchy college crowd.
The raunchiness doesn’t exist merely in the track titles. “James Dean” starts out with this gem of a line: “This is sex, this is war / This is me fucking you on the dance floor / You’re a slut, I’m a whore. We’ve fucked everyone before.” And “Nip Slip,” a song less than two minutes long, isn’t any classier: “I’m so drunk, I just want some chips and dip.”
Needless to say, No Regerts certainly isn’t trying to reach any intellectual pinnacle, but amidst all the humor, there is a forlorn and longing sound to Julia Shapiro’s vocals. Her happy sadness helps to accentuate the silliness of the lyrics and general self-awareness, and some of the slower songs, like “Black Sail,” are actually pretty and peaceful.
What will become of Chastity Belt post-slutty basement beer parties? Will they party forever or can we expect a completely different vibe once their sophomore album is released? Luckily, between the fast-paced vagina sing-alongs, we caught a glimpse of what this band is really capable of, now that they know how to correctly play their instruments. And not that there’s a damn thing wrong with vagina sing-alongs. One can’t be sure how long they can make this shtick last.
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