BELOVED SEATTLE ROCKERS, CHASTITY BELT

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“I COULD SAY LESS” AND “PAVEMENT”

For the better part of two decades, Chastity Belt has carried a torch for Seattle indie rock. Today, the noisy project releases two new singles via Suicide Squeeze: “I Could Say Less” / “Pavement.” The A-side sparked while the band crafted demos in Washington, grappling with wanting to be perceived while feeling flattened by misunderstanding. “Pavement” came to life on tour in Australia, inspired by feelings of disappointment during an otherwise exciting time. Both tracks are spunky, yet vulnerable.

For 15 years, Chastity Belt has created a musical language out of friendship. Julia Shapiro, Lydia Lund, Hunter Truscott, and Gretchen Grimm have built a resonant catalog around trademark intertwining guitars, meticulous rhythms, and a double exposure of melancholy and optimism. Their music has grown more introspective over time, but the raucous wit of their early records is never too far away.

The band’s latest offering, “I Could Say Less,” leans into the tension between wanting to communicate and wanting to keep something to yourself. Propulsive guitars circle and lock together, building tension without rushing toward release, while restraint and vulnerability are offset with humor to keep things from getting too heavy. “Pavement,” meanwhile, finds the band turning melancholy into something buoyant, pairing sunny melodies, weightless hooks, and call-and-response vocals with lyrics about sinking into sadness as a way of making room for hope.

Holding these kinds of dualities with care has become a Chastity Belt specialty. After a decade and a half of playing together, the four have developed the spontaneity and instinct that come from knowing one another so well. On “I Could Say Less” and “Pavement,” they further that skill into the wobbly space between heaviness and hope, finding room for both without resolving the tension, and continuing to trust where this balance takes them.