Bulletproof Stockings Blends Old and New Rock

Bulletproof Stockings, a Hasidic rock duo, will grace East Hampton for the first time next week, and the two front-women are curious how the audience will react.

“I wonder if our sound will be too intense,” Dalia Shusterman, the drummer, pondered last week.

One sure thing though, men will likely not be present at the show. Ms. Shusterman and the lyricist, Perl Wolfe, adhere to a rabbinic law that prohibits men from listening to women sing live. Their concerts are only open to women, but the two reveal that the practice doesn’t exactly have to do with religion.

“That was kind of a starting point, but that wasn’t what this was about,” said Ms. Shusterman. Rather, their music and concerts are meant to give strength and power to women, religious and secular alike, and allow them a night to dance for themselves. Of course, if a man wants to sneak in, no one’s going to stop him, but usually the no-men-allowed boundary is respected, and men concede to listen on YouTube instead.

Some critics have accused them of sexism, but they’re quick to squash that misconception.

“We’re pro-men, too. We love men, too,” said Ms. Wolfe. When spats form on their Facebook page, Ms. Wolfe feels relieved when she sees men saying, “Let the girls do their thing.”

Yet the real fascination surrounding Bulletproof Stockings, a name that gives nod to the sheer nylons worn by Hasidic women, lies in the band’s ability to blend old world traditions with punk rocker modernism. The women both wear wigs, as hair is considered sexually alluring in Orthodox Judaism, and pray before shows. They talk about how they’ve turned to “HaShem,” or “God” in Hebrew, for guidance during difficult times. On the other hand, they’ve starred in an episode of reality television, drawn crowds at hip, Lower East Side venues, and written catchy guitar riffs paired with lonely lyrics. Ms. Wolfe, who has a bold voice, sings lines that ring true to any person living in New York.

Everything is so cluttered here I can’t sleep/

And when I do I awake on empty/

Could you show your face just a little more frequently/

I didn’t know it was so cold in the city

Before marrying her husband, a rabbi, Ms. Shusterman lived a “pre-Hasidic life,” flourishing in a rock ’n’ roll lifestyle. She attended South by Southwest, hitchhiked across the country, and drummed in the streets of New Orleans, occasionally getting picked up by eavesdropping musicians.

Ms. Wolfe was working as a makeup artist when she got divorced for the second time. She quit, returned to her family’s home in Chicago, and ruminated about her life path. She grew up playing music in kid festivals and choirs, but it was during this time of contemplation that she determined to form a women-only band. Her parents pleaded with her to rethink her unstable plan, but she disregarded them and moved back to her Brooklyn neighborhood.

Ms. Shusterman and Ms. Wolfe discovered each other several years ago through the grapevine of the tight-knit Hasidic communityn Crown Heights, Brooklyn. At the time, they were both struggling to overcome personal woes: Ms. Shusterman the death of her husband and Ms. Wolfe a second divorce. Separately, the women had turned to music, a shining light they had employed throughout their lives. But as solo artists, it proved difficult to form a fully functioning band. Ms. Wolfe needed a drummer and Ms. Shusterman rarely tried her hand at songwriting. When a friend introduced the women, who happened to be living three blocks away from one another, the missing parts clicked into one whole.

The women officially established Bulletproof Stockings in 2011. Two weeks later they recorded their first song and played their first gig at a yeshiva fund-raiser. They say The New York Daily News was the first to briefly mention them. Since then they’ve booked shows at Arlene’s Grocery on the Lower East Side, and numerous news outlets have profiled and interviewed them, including The Wall Street Journal, CBS, and The Huffington Post.

“The press snowballed and it has not stopped,” said Ms. Shusterman.

At next week’s show in East Hampton, the women will play songs from their upcoming album, created thanks to the $37,000 they received on Kickstarter. Once they finish the album, their next step is to go on tour.

Before the women hung up the phone, Ms. Wolfe reiterated one more time that their music should be enjoyed by everyone.

“We’re not trying to dis the men or anything,” she said.

Bulletproof Stockings will play on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Chabad of the Hamptons in East Hampton. Tickets are $36.