Chastity Belt’s energy is like a circuit, circling the silly and the sincere. The four-piece—Julia Shapiro (vocals, guitar, drums), Lydia Lund (vocals, guitar), Gretchen Grimm (drums, vocals, guitar) and Annie Truscott (bass)—got together in Washington State in 2010. Their signature jangly, nineties-influenced guitar sound is a hat-tip to the bands of that era and something they’ve made their own as it matured over the band’s nearly fifteen years of playing together.
Many of Chastity Belt’s signature dynamics, from the silly to the sincere, have read as feminist gestures: the Cool Slut DGAF-iness, the shrugging off of the “women in rock” press gargle, the fundamentally punk act of creating music on your own as a woman, and being lyrically forthright. Chastity Belt has tapped into a more profound tradition of women making art on their terms: the act of self-preservation in favour of the long game. The band’s intentions have resulted in art deeply expressive of four people’s commitment to what they love most: making music with each other.
