In 2015 Chastity Belt made waves in the music scene when Spin magazine named them as one of the “50 best rock bands right now;" Pretty impressive coming from humble beginnings as four “bored “college friends getting together to create “smart girl” music. Unapologetic in their feminist thoughts, Chastity Belt used their quick wit and dry humour to rewrite and question the gender/sexual boundaries placed upon young women. Basking in a loose and unrestrained sound the girls set out to play songs that were both tuneful and thoughtful at the same time.
For their third LP, the foursome delves a little bit deeper, presenting an introspective view of themselves. I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone is like the aftermath of a party. When you’ve passed out drunk and as morning dawns and you pick yourself up off the carpet, the fog from the night before seems to clear. What you're left with is that feeling in the pit of your stomach of “what did I do?” and you realise that you're just to old for this shit and its time to take life and yourself seriously.
Time can be a wonderful component when it comes to self-growth and for the ladies of Chastity Belt; time has rightfully been on their side. What we see on this album is growth, not only musically but also in maturity. Sadly we all know that life’s lessons must be learnt in their own time. "Different Now” opens the album, and straight away my mind screams Sonic Youth and Kim Gordan in all her glory. With a single note guitar line played over a simple base line until both achieve fruition into lush chords. Meanwhile lead vocalist Julia Shapiro advises those that are weary and withered from the insecurities that bind them that “You'll find in time, all the answers that you seek, have been sitting there just waiting to be seen."
“This Time of Night” is a punchy throwback to the band's grungy roots. With its dirty barre chords layered with cascading guitar lines and melancholy pop vocals, it’s a dull ache for answers to unforeseen questions “fucked up, anxious, full of fear, how did I get here?”
“Stuck” features drummer Gretchen Grimm on vocals in a song she penned herself, with chunky guitars, tub thumbing base drum and chugging baselines. This is, with its harmonious pop, quite reminiscent of The Breeders' classic album Last Splash.
The whole album is like being underwater with its dreamy melodic guitar, bright cymbals, moody base lines and Shapiro’s vocals that want to lull you to sleep. There is nothing too complex in the delivery in how the instruments are played. Simple beats and strums at times seem effortless, but don’t be fooled. That lack of pretence is the definitive message and key to the band's potential as artists.
Closing tracks “Something Else” and “5am” see the band emerging from those ocean depths. Blue skies are in sight and that sinking feeling that held them down is washed away.
I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone is beautiful in all its auditory gloominess and witty in the way that it bares its anxieties as well as its soul. It’s an album that shows just how far these young women have come and continue to climb great musical heights. They may have spent so much time alone in the past, but if this is what they produce when they’re together, then I hope they never need to be alone again.
I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone is out now on CD, vinyl, and digital formats.
