Chastity Belt released their debut album No Regerts in 2013 and have already managed to prove themselves as reliable creators of ironically flavoured indie rock and earn themselves a steadily growing fan base in the process.
Now arriving at album number three, the group has decided to drop the half-baked wit of its first two records in favour of a more personal approach. Gone are the ‘Giant (Vagina)’s and the ‘Pussy Weed Beer’s. Instead, the four-piece have taken a hard and fast introspective U-turn, channelling most, if not all, of the album’s lyrical content directly inward.
Singer Julia Shapiro moans and wails in her typically careless yet revealing tone; “Waiting for nothing … How do I get out of here?” on ‘This Time Of Night’, and “Is this what you want / Is this who you want me to be?” on highlight track ‘Caught In A Lie’.
To a certain degree, Chastity Belt’s sound remains recognisable from their first record – a tried and true formula of twangy guitars, heavy bass and time-keeping drums – but it has matured slightly in accordance with the band’s overall shift in lyrical focus.
However, it’s this uniform theme of I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone that lets it down in the excitement department. Each song sticks to a similar path in terms of both composition and intent, and your attention can be found dwindling towards the end.
I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone is out Friday June 2 through Hardly Art/Inertia.
