Photo: Press
"He was just another man trying to teach me something," sneers Julia Shapiro, her logic-defying mane of curls tamed into braids and stuffed under a yellow snapback. "I never expect much from anyone, so I’m never disappointed and never have to try."
The crowd in this Dalston pub are sneering (or singing) along with her, the room packed to the rafters and stiflingly sweaty, despite the October winter drawing in outside. The sell-out show is an important one: the Seattle grrrls’ first ever UK gig, and you can tell we’re all stoked to be witnessing it.
It doesn't seem as much of a big deal to Chastity Belt though, who play it cool as ice for the whole set, with Annie Truscott on bass slowly grooving side-to-side along to the surf guitar of lead shredder (and wearer of neon purple lipstick) Lydia Lund. It's hard to see Gretchen Grimm on drums - the crowd's too big - but you can sure as hell hear her.
The sound at the back isn’t too great – it would have been good to hear a bit more of that surf guitar – but that doesn't detract from the set - if anything it adds to the DIY vibe, and besides - they're totally preaching to the converted.
The girls play all the tracks off their latest record, Time to Go Home, and a couple off their debut, No Regerts (no that's not a typo) but the biggest crowd-pleaser and the loudest/tightest is femme anthem, 'Cool Slut'.
There’s something strangely liberating about a roomful of people – men, women, other – singing collectively at the top of their lungs: "To all the girls in the world trying to take off their shirts. Ladies it's okay to be, it's okay to be slutty.
"We're just a couple of sluts, so what if we like to fuck?"
