Live Review: Chastity Belt w/ Tempura Nights & Pool Shop @ The Brightside

The last few years have seen a steady rise in bands nostalgic for the 90s and Brisbane is no exception from the craze. American group Chastity Belt was joined by local acts Pool Shop and Tempura Nights for the Brisbane leg of their Australian tour in support of their latest album Time to Go Home, which stands up as a brilliant love letter to 90s sounds and aesthetics. Although each group were undeniably indebted to the nineties in both their musical and physical styles, they all offered a different take.

Chastity Belt first raised eyebrows when they released album ‘No Regrets’ in 2013, which was certainly true to its name, with songs like Giant (Vagina) and Pussy Weed Beer. While their latest release is somewhat more subtle in tone and includes strokes of shoegaze, it still retains that same snotty punk attitude that made ‘No Regrets’ so memorable, and Chastity Belt such a likeable and genuine outfit.

Pool Shop opened the night with a stripped back set that involved only Jaimee Fryer on guitar and a crammed pedal board. Nevertheless, this proved to be more than enough, with Fryer wowing Chastity Belt themselves who gave her a shout-out during their performance. Although only a handful of people turned up for the opening set, this was a fitting atmosphere for Pool Shop’s raw, yet cerebral dream-pop heralded by both Fryer’s voice, which practically drips with emotion, and her layered guitar riffs.

“Drone is a snapshot of everything that makes Chastity Belt great, wistful guitar melodies that reach beyond their garage roots, lyrics that are pertinent to their youthful demographic but not clichéd, and a hypnotising bass section.”

Tempura Nights followed with an energetic set that immediately broke Fryer’s spell, but in the best way possible. While Tempura Nights might be easily mistaken as a somewhat derivative lo-fi indie rock outfit on a casual first listen, their live show proved they have a secret weapon up their sleeves with frontwoman Alice Rezende, who led the band and the audience through the set with confidence and magnetism.

Rezende’s personal anecdotes emphasised the layers to each song, which mostly deal with familiar youth-centred, coming-of-age territory but always with a unique twist. This is most evident on the band’s most familiar track (and still their best), RIP Chixx, which Rezende introduced as an ode to suicide, but really seemed to me more about idolising heroes from the past and feeling helpless in the present.

Chastity Belt started their set with Drone, which nicely highlighted how far they had come in the last couple of years and firmly announced their future trajectory. Drone is a snapshot of everything that makes Chastity Belt great, wistful guitar melodies that reach beyond their garage roots, lyrics that are pertinent to their youthful demographic but not clichéd, and a hypnotising bass section. They follow with the decidedly sunnier and upbeat Cool Slut that reminds the audience Chastity Belt have not forgotten their riot grrrl roots as the song encourages girls to embrace their sexuality without fear of being judged.

“…despite the more mature and nuanced developments of their sound exemplified on ‘Time to Go Home’, they haven’t lost their sense of humour.”

While lead singer Julia Shapiro’s provides the character and heart to Chastity Belt’s songs with her rich, nasally vocals, Lydia Lund offered a counterpoint with softer and more stripped back vocals on self-titled track Lydia. The song was appropriately meditative and less chargey than Shapiro’s songs, which gave punters a chance to catch their breath. Any great band always exhibits a certain amount of duality in their song-writing that keeps things from stagnating, which Chastity Belt have nicely established by having Lund take on vocal duties and expanding their sound.

The band preview a few new tracks that see them further develop their sound, with one stand-out tune marked by an impressive drumbeat almost evocative of an explosive, tribal ritual. Even so, it’s the title-track from ‘Time to Go Home’ that really leaves a lasting impression. The song provides the best of both worlds with sluggish, sweeping sections counterpoised against frenetic guitar riffs.

For a song about feeling disorientated and knowing it’s time to go home but wanting to keep going, it seems like an obvious choice for a set-closer, but the group finished with Joke as if to remind the audience that despite the more mature and nuanced developments of their sound exemplified on ‘Time to Go Home’, they haven’t lost their sense of humour.

Check out our recent interview with Chastity Belt HERE