Tracks Of The Week, 07.04.17 - GigslutzGigslutz

The second single to be taken from Chastity Belt’s upcoming third album I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone, ‘Caught in a Lie’ sees the band confirm just how exciting, how beautiful, the impending record will be.

Taken from the album which seems to explore the band’s Julia Shapiro explore her previous loneliness, ‘Caught in a Lie’, while reflective, seems to pay homage to her newfound relationships, too. Even just by listening to ‘Caught in a Lie’ you can feel the closeness of Chastity Belt as a unit. Melancholic, meditative and incredibly dreamy, ‘Caught in a Lie’ is enough to make anyone fall in love with Chastity Belt.

I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone is out now. See Chastity Belt live:

September
4 – Cliffs, Margate
5 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
6 – Star and Garter, Manchester
7 – Cluny, Newcastle
8 – Broadcast, Newcastle
11 – Exchange, Bristol
12 – Bodega, Nottingham
13 – Green Door Store, Brighton
14 – Garage, London

While dubbed by the band as ‘quite aggressive’ lyrically, justified by the fact that “sometimes [they] feel this world is just so full of men,” Ulrika Spacek’s latest offering ‘Full of Men’ undeniably resonates with a lot of people.

‘Full of Men,’ in the bands own words, characterises their upcoming record: it’s expansive, considered, but simultaneously seemingly incidental. And it speaks volumes for just how exciting their record could be. It’s the product of their surroundings, undeniably. Recorded in KEN – a former art gallery, the band’s shared house, and a general creative space for the band – the result reflects such free creativity, and the overall ethos of the band.

See Ulrika Spacek live:

April
28th – Hit The North Festival, Newcastle Upon Tyne
29th – Portsmouth Psych Fest, Portsmouth
30th – Festevol – Liverpool
June
2nd – O2 Academy, Oxford
6th – Rough Trade Instore, Nottingham
8th – Rise Music instore, Bristol
14th –The Lexington, London
August
20th – Doune The Rabbit Hole Festival, Stirlingshire

Having spent the last year perfecting their sound and working up a repertoire of tracks, Plastic People have now officially, and triumphantly, launched their project with their first offering: ‘Never Let Me Know.’

While perhaps an unconventional method of forming a band, it obviously works. Skipping out the faffing and fussing, Plastic People has launched as a fully function project and ‘Never Let Me Know’ speaks volumes about what Plastic People are capable of. Soulful, cool-as-sh*t rock ‘n’ roll, ‘Never Let Me Know’ is an exciting taste of what’s to come.

‘Never Let Me Know’ is out now.

“I wanted to write a song with a message of hope… of positivity and resistance that would resonate with everyone who feels disaffected too,” says Pleasure House frontman Alex Heffernan of their latest single ‘Calm’. He’s achieved it, too, and while sonically ‘Calm’ is quite the opposite – a hugely raucous, intense 3 minutes – it highlights important issues and in a manner that can’t be ignored.

Ultimately, ‘Calm’ is a protest song, and a bloody good one. Yes, it’s chaotic, yes, it’s raucous but it’s exciting and in all the thrill of the music Heffernan manages to get his point across and highlight disaffection with the world, all while sounding brilliant.

‘Calm’ is out now. See Pleasure House live:

April
28 – Handmade Festival, Leicester
May
11 – The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
14 – Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh
15 – Broadcast, Glasgow
24 – Esquires, Bedford
25 – Marrs Bar, Worcester
26 – The Garibaldi Hotel, Northampton
27 – Verve Bar, Leeds
June
1 – The Garage, London
2 – Jimmy’s, Manchester
3 – The Rocking Chair, Sheffield
10 – The Shed, Leicester
13 – The Hope & Ruin, Brighton