poppedmusic

Chastity Belt

Brighton

Words: Lewis Cockle

Photos: Chloe Hashemi

The Green Door Store of Brighton comes across as a prime venue for Chastity Belt. Its relaxed status, laid-back staff and rugged appearance all contribute to the headliners vibe. It’s also one of the smaller and more intimate venues in Brighton, meaning that the fans can essentially hang out with the bands before and after their set. Although, of course, everybody attending is too cool for that.

Chastity Belt start with some of their most popular tracks from their latest album (which is excellent, by the way) I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone (2017), and throughout the course of the set weave in a few of their older tracks from No Regrets (2013) and Time to Go Home (2015). It is clear that whilst the band may have matured to a degree, they still retain the same skill and originality, and actually, when that maturity is applied to some of their older tracks, such as Cool Slut, another enjoyable, if somewhat intangible, layer is added to the song.

The second track of the set was a song called Drone from their second album. This was one of the first Chastity Belt songs to grace my ears, and the live version did not disappoint. It perfectly combines 90s alternative riffs and clean but still shoegazey chords with distinct lyrics, which pleases the whole spectrum.

One of the highlights of the night was the attitude of the band. Perhaps at a cursory glance the band’s attitude on stage could be seen as somewhat arrogant, yet it is clear from how they interact with each other on stage throughout the set that they are having a lot of fun, and definitely don’t take themselves too seriously. They also do a good job of switching the line up around, with both the rhythm guitarist and drummer switching into lead singer position, which adds a nice change of pace.

After around 45 minutes of playing, the band finishes, although in the Green Door Store, there’s no real ‘backstage’, meaning that the ritual of the ‘encore’ is sort of redundant. However, they return to the stage and play Cool Slut and Seattle Party with an excellent energy which results in the very cool audience swaying to a degree or two beyond what could be considered cool.

If you get an opportunity to go and see Chastity Belt, then you should definitely take it. They uniquely combine a number of significant musical styles with great lyrics, and have a lot of fun doing it, which you definitely feel as part of the crowd.