The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

No Pains of Being Pure at Heart, No Gains of Being Pure at Heart

In between all of the highly anticipated releases this year, a few newer bands have been causing quite a stir. So far this year, my favorite of these is most certainly The Pains of being Pure at Heart. Based out of Brooklyn (cause who isn't nowadays?), the fuzzy pop quartet have been writing warm cuts of jangly music since their self-titled EP in 2007. But besides their debut EP and a couple split EPs and a 7" single, Pains music has been rather hard to come by. However, this year Slumberland Records released the Pains debut full length (which, creatively, is also self titled).

The album contains a lot of songs previously released on the Ep's but this time around they are considerably more polished. The album is a consistent exhibition of trebly noise-pop that doesn't rely on showiness as much as solid songwriting to propel the music. Most of the songs are driven by Kurt Feldmen's drums and Alex Naidus's bass while guitars provide a blanket of noise that more envelopes the room than draws you in to itself. Kip Berman and Peggy Wang's vocal interplay is continually engaging and endearing yet still subtle enough to blend into the band's forthright approach. The lyrics harken back to a youthful playfulness that when combined with the music becomes detached and nostalgic reminding me of why I like bands like Belle and Sebastian and the Smiths.

This video, via Yellow Stereo, is for the song "Everything With You" from their debut LP and basically just displays visually the playful romping around that their music implies sonically. It is shot entirely on Super 8 film which seems like a fitting compliment to the nostalgic quality of their music.

Most recently, Slumberland announced that they will release a new 7″ single for the track “Young Adult Friction” on Mar. 31st. The Pains are touring all the way through June, including a tour through Europe, a stop at the P4K music festival and ten shows at SXSW (including 4 in one day!). Yet somehow, they are still not coming to Seattle. My pure heart feels the pain.

Listen to the band's myspace here.

Buy The Pains of Being Pure at Heart here.

Download "Young Adult Friction" here.