Get in on Chastity Belt’s Scuzz Rock [stream]

Chastity Belt – Black Sail SoundCloud

In May of last year, Seattle four-piece Chastity Belt put out an EP called Fuck Chastity Belt, and the summary says “This is the worst music you will ever hear. Chastity Belt is the worst band to ever exist.” As it turns out — these are lies! It’s actually this extreme lack of pretense and refusal to take themselves too seriously that makes them so damn good.

Their debut full-length, No Regerts, works for lots of reasons. The scuzzy guitars hit every sweet spot imaginable, their sound recalls all those “garage” genres in a blender and Julia Shapiro’s punked-out Grace Slick-esque voice never loses its cool. On their Facebook page, their genre is listed as “vagina rock”, and they’ve got songs with titles like “Pussy Weed Beer”, “Nip Slip” and “Giant Vagina”. This music is full of sex. It reminds me of that scene in The Runaways when the manager is teaching Jett how to play guitar, and he tells her to play it “like she’s fucking it”. That’s basically what’s going down here — everyone else might be getting denied by lock and key, but the music sure is getting some.

Loose and grungy, Chastity Belt’s nuanced “fuck it all” attitude isn’t enough to hide the fact that they’re incredible musicians. Listen to No Regerts, and it doesn’t take long to become intoxicated with the saucy rock that they spew with sweaty nonchalance and suppressed smirks. The record drops next week.