Pop Loser: Chastity Belt’s New Album Made Me Cry 

Welcome back to Pop Loser! This week I’ll dive into Chastity Belt’s new album All My Friends (out Friday on Suicide Squeeze), the best musician costumes I saw this Halloween, and that time the Pet Shop Boys produced an album for Liza Minnelli. There are so many great shows happening in Seattle this week, and I’m overwhelmed. Plus, do you remember where you were when Justin Timberlake unveiled Janet Jackson’s semi-shielded nipple? 

This Week in Music:

This week in Strangerland, I interviewed Corin Tucker about reviving her first band, Heavens to Betsy (don’t miss their show with Nudity at Neumos tomorrow!). Jullianne Bell reviewed Beabadoobee’s Halloween-themed concert at Climate Pledge Arena. And in her column, Dear Hendrix, Eva Walker wrote about being an American goth. 

Our November print issue has hit the stands, which means there’s a new calendar of music events that’ll keep you busy all month long. I also profiled the best band you haven’t heard (yet), XOË, who is stopping by the Stranger office for Noise Complaint this Friday. Plus, Dave Segal has a fresh batch of new music you shouldn’t miss.

I’m overwhelmed! Too many great shows are happening this week, and I don’t know how to manage my time. Jody Stephens, the last surviving member of the greatest band ever, Big Star, is playing at the Neptune tonight as Big Star Quartet. Seattle’s own instrumental psych rock trio, Iroiro, is playing a record release show on Thursday with Mt Fog and Ononos. On Saturday, mary in the junkyard is playing Barboza, and Big Freedia is playing a tiny show at Substation on Sunday (I’m baffled that it hasn’t sold out yet). The real dilemma comes on Tuesday, though, when Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean are celebrating 30 years of The Score on the same night as L7, Syd, and Tiny Vipers. Ahhh!

Chastity Belt’s new album, All My Friends, is out this Friday. Written across multiple years and time zones, the Seattle-based band’s sixth album reflects the thing that’s been their guiding light: friendship. “A lot of times in life I feel like a late bloomer, like I’m still trying to get my shit together in a way that other people have already figured out,” says drummer/vocalist Gretchen Grimm. “But then I reflect on my adulthood, and my top priority has largely been my friends, which I do not regret at all.” Upon my first listen to the album, the lyric “Sewing machine and reality TV / Sleepovers at 34” (“Friends For This”) made me shed a literal tear of joy. My love for Chastity Belt started hand in hand with my own best and oldest friend, Myka. Back in the summer of 2013, we would drive around Alki Beach in her VW Cabriolet, scheming for beers, complaining about boys, and shouting every word to their debut album No Regerts. All My Friends feels like an ode to the memories that the band’s 15+ year legacy has fostered, both for the band members themselves and for their listeners.  

In the words of Phoebe Bridgers, “Baby, it’s Halloween, and we can be anything.” Lily Allen dressed up as an empty Ticketmaster map. Tinashe was a bottle of melatonin. Charli xcx showed up as Secretary’s smoldering Lee Holloway. Madonna sported a high-concept costume inspired by Jean Cocteau. Sam Smith channeled my favorite era of Liza Minnelli (more on that later), Caroline Polachek dressed as a piano, and Bridgers shared three group costumes from week seven of the Lost Tour, including her band dressed as the cast of Twin Peaks, Peter Pan, and The Wizard of Oz.  

A tell-all docuseries about the 2004 Super Bowl incident is coming. Where were you when Justin Timberlake revealed Janet Jackson’s infamous sunburst-shaped nipple shield during the infamous halftime show? I was playing with Polly Pockets in the basement of my friend’s house while her teenage brother watched the game on a mammoth big-screen TV. When the incident happened, he bolted to the VHS player to make sure that it was recording so that he could watch it again. It turned out not to be recording—he was devastated. Now, twelve years later, we are finally getting answers as to how this happened: Timberlake and Jackson are reportedly participating in a new four-part documentary on Apple TV about the fiasco. 

Now, take a deep breath and enjoy…Bob Dylan meeting Pope Leo in a hoodie. It’s too bad this happened after Halloween, because it would have made an amazing couple’s costume.

Music Events Worth Your Hard-Earned Money This Week:

Big Star Quartet Nov 4, Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Baba Obscura Nov 5–8, Pioneer Square, all ages

Claire Conway Album Release with Dog Mom, Arran Fagan Nov 5, Sunset Tavern, 7:30 pm 21+

Heavens to Betsy, Nudity Nov 5, Neumos, 7 pm, 21+ 

Iroiro Record Release with Mt Fog and Ononos Nov 5, Chop Suey, 8 pm, 21+

Noise Complaint: XOË Nov 6, The Stranger, 12:45 pm, free

Powaqqatsi Live with the Phillip Glass Ensemble Nov 6, Benaroya Hall, 8 pm, all ages

Avery Cochrane Nov 7, Neumos, 8 pm, all ages

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin Tenebre Nov 7, El Corazon, 8 pm, 21+

Hip-Hop History Month Celebration Nov 7, MOPOP, 10 am–5 pm, all ages

Marci Nov 7, Black Lodge, 7 pm, all ages

mary in the junkyard Nov 7, Barboza, 6 pm, all ages

Morgan O., Asa Nakagawa, Precious Bane Nov 7, Chapel Performance Space, 7 pm, all ages

Squirrel Flower, Sour Widows Nov 7, Tractor Tavern, 8:30 pm, 21+

Big Freedia Nov 8, Substation, 9 pm, 21+

Genesis Owusu Nov 8, Neumos, 8 pm, 21+

Lucy Bedroque Nov 9, Showbox, 8 pm, all ages

L7: The Last Hurrah Tour Nov 10, Showbox, 8 pm, 21+

Ms. Lauryn Hill & Wyclef Jean: Celebrating 30 Years of The Score Nov 10, Climate Pledge Arena, 8 pm, all ages

Syd: Beard Tour Nov 10, Moore Theatre, 8 pm, all ages

Tiny Vipers, Evelyn Frances, Estate Plan Nov 10, Sunset Tavern, 8 pm, 21+

The Songs That Keep Me Up at Night:

“So Sorry, I Said” by Liza Minnelli 

Back in 1989, Liza Minnelli dropped Results, produced (and largely written by) the Pet Shop Boys. The album was the result of her wanting to record a pop album and being a big fan of the synth-pop duo’s hit “Rent.” With its catchy-as-hell songs and ethereal production, the album is slowly becoming one of my most listened-to of the year. (I’m only 37 years too late!) Put “So Sorry, I Said” on a mixtape with Virna Lindt’s “Underwater Boy” and Judie Tzuke’s “Shoot from the Heart.” 

“Stupid Boy” by 1000 Rabbits

I am new to this London-based band, but they sound like if the Sugarcubes made an album in 2009.

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