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About:
Imagine if The Ramones traded in their leather jackets for anoraks, or Stephen Pastel actually threw Aggi off the bridge and married Black Tambourine's Pam Berry and had four babies that formed a pop band in 2007.
Meet The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a New York four-piece who plays dreamy, noisy POP with boy/girl vocals, blissful melodies and blistering drums.
PRESS:
Indie Mp3 on "Searching for the Now Vol.4" split 7" single
"Part four sees in my opinion two of the best indie pop bands in the world right now coming together. When it comes to the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart I certainly do not remain impartial and on Come Saturday the band yet again deliver another fuzzed up moment to cherish. It's joyous in the extreme.
Melbourne's Summer Cats seem to have a plethora of releases out at the moment. Let's Go is another pop nugget which is guaranteed to get even this old indie kid dancing. Neither band can do no wrong at the moment and this, like the whole series, is essential listening."
Drowned in Sound
Despite only having been together for the best part of a year, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are fast becoming the most name-dropped band in underground circles on both sides of the Atlantic, and only seconds into jaunty opener 'Hey Paul' (think The Pastels, The Razorcuts or indeed any pre-Madchester bands before indie became part of the mainstream first time around) it's blatantly obvious to see why. While they make no bones about where their hearts and inspirations lie, it would be churlish to call them mere revivalists, particularly with the way singing/guitarist and humble storyteller Kip engages in almost constant interplay throughout their 25-minute set with perma-smiling keyboard player and co-vocalist Peggy. Hell, their new single is even called 'Kurt Cobain's Cardigan' yet it sounds like Lazy-era My Bloody Valentine exchanging sweat glands with a pre-major label Soup Dragons in a sixth form common room. What's more, it's utterly ace like the rest of their set and turns the whole of the Red Room into spring-loaded coils of unbridled excitement.
The Big Takeover, Fall 07
It’s been far too long since I’ve heard a record that’s made such a visceral impression on me as this unassuming, self-released jewel. The Pains’ opening salvo, “This Love is Fucking Right,” immediately jostles the senses with a flurry of jangle–laden riffs that pleasingly drill their way into your cranium, and won’t stop from there. The closest and most direct comparison would be that of the late ’80 Brit indie band Close Lobsters, as well as more recognizable names from the C-86 movement, such as Wedding Present and Mighty Lemon Drops. Even Ride’s first noisy batch of EPs that helped kick off the whole dreampop era weren’t as unremittingly intense and hook-savvy as this beauty. The band’s metronome perfect percussion (a drum machine?) and a full, rich mix abets Pains’ luscious proceedings that much more. I’m already dying to hear more from these New York whiz kids!
How Does it Feel to Be Loved?- New Band of the Day - May 15 2008
"This Love Is Fucking Right" is the perfect indie pop song….they have it in them to better their influences…Consider me hooked”
IndiePages
Incredibly melodic and beautiful tunes wrapped in layers of effected-guitars and backed by a drum machine using a simple and steady beat. MTQ = 5/5
The L Magazine - 8 NYC Bands You Need to Hear
Three Imaginary Girls
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart are yet another up-and-coming New York band that will shock you awake -- kind of like when Marty McFly plugs into that amp and gets blown away, literally...These songs are raucous and poppy and life-giving.
Stereogum - Band to Watch
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's dreamy self-titled debut EP contains less than 15 minutes of music -- more than enough to steal our pure hearts. (Admittedly, they had us from the go by titling the out-of-the-gates opening track "This Love is Fucking Right!").
[The New York] trio mix sugary boy/girl vocals, Jesus & Mary Chain's rain clouds and Darklands drum machine minus the face-melting noise, sneaker-gazing a la Black Tambourine (or, hey hey, rifle through the rest of the Slumberland back catalog to namedrop something with a bit more jangle) and punky Comet Gain(s) into addictive pop gold that locates a place beyond the band's well-chosen influences...
New York Press Feature
To read the full feature, click above
Sound Bites: NYC Popfest 2008
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were the first band of the night and I was anxious to see them, as I've been liking their music for some time, the got the hot mention in L Magazine a few weeks back, and every time I read an interview they mention how much they dig The Pastels. I seemed destined to love them.
And I did. How can you not love great pop songs drenched in distortion and reverb? My Bloody Valentine comparisons abound, but to me they are more akin to Velocity Girl, if Archie had sung lead more. Or the Ropers or early Lilys or any band on Slumberland in the early '90s.
Skatterbrain
"The songs on the self-titled debut are brilliant pop gems, every last one of them. The catchy boy/gurl harmonies of Kip and Peggy are cast upon a background of simple driving basslines, mechanical drums, keyboards and of course, a wash of ringing guitar distortion, creating a sound not too far off from 90s indiepop heroes, Black Tambourine or early MBV. Long sentences aside, this really is a fantastic EP, and The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are becoming one of my favorite US indiepop bands out there right now."
Fire Escape Talking
the basic impulse of bubblegum pop played fast, dirty and gleefully just like the Ramones; it’s the way the Modern Lovers took the good bits of the Velvet Underground (the elated, scuzzy rock’n’roll) and dispensed with the avant-garde trickery; it’s the same feeling as My Bloody Valentine flying close to the sun in 1987 with rapturous tunes and walls of feedback; and it brilliantly recalls how at their best Rocketship fused furious guitars with driving organ melodies.
Very few bands manage to transport their wild spirit and the legacy of their trailblazing heroes into something this special. At their best – which live was the entire set – they make you feel sixteen again. Or what being sixteen is meant to feel like...
Erasing Clouds
...a perfect approximation of the attitude of youth, when you think you’re invincible. This band has the youthful sound to match it: driving energy and a guitar-and-drum-machine cloud of noise surrounding catchy pop melodies. Youthful, but at the same time classic, in the indie-pop tradition. The bouncier, messier side of that tradition, that is – think of the Pastels maybe, or the most upbeat songs by bands like the Field Mice, 14 Iced Bears or the Razorcuts. Or don’t think at all; just listen and enjoy.
Electric Sailor
Athens Popfest 2007 Highlights:
...when I came back I was stepping into the middle of another band's set that I fucking loved. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart...bear a passing resemblance to My Favorite, a band (recently split up) whose two albums have been permanently stuck in my CD wallet for a couple years now. Both, at least, seem to have an affinity for British New Wave, while reworking their idols into the landscape of modern pop. TPOBPAH, as I shall smoothly call them, have just released a too-brief EP, five songs with killer hooks.
Indie MP3 (UK)
"I first heard NYC's the The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart when I picked up their recent This Love is Fucking Right single on Cloudberry Records.
And what a feast of noisy angst indie pop it was too. Jangling guitars, girl/boy vocals. catchy and melodic songs which come from the same mould as My Bloody Valentines Paint A Rainbow. Orchard Of My Eye is, pardon my French, the dog's bollocks. Excellent stuff!"
It Covers the Hillsides
"Remember that time that girl you got all stupid nervous around in high school asked for a ride home one day, and then surprisingly kissed you before running into her house? Remember the ride home listening to some fuzzy-dreamy-pop song, taking the long way home on purpose? No? Oh wait, that was me....but that's how their music feels...like an all fuzzed-out euphoria.
Oh My Rockness
The music just may take you back to that first time you ever held a boy or girl's hand at the roller skating rink, or were ever dumped like a sad sack of potatoes your sophomore year. And if you've never been dumped, well, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is not the band for you. Jock Jams would be more up your alley.[note: To be truthful, Peggy Pains really likes Jock Jams..]
Skatterbrain
Think Small
Disconap
RCRD LBL
Merry Swankster
Mp3 Hugger
Alex Loves You and Your Silly Pop Songs
Rock Sellout
Among the Aisles
Sketchy Pop
An Ideal for Living
It Covers the Hillsides
Music of the Moment
Panda Toes
DISGRASIAN
Who Needs Radio?
Guilt Free Pleasure
For our Spanish speaking friends:
retromusica
lito music
anorak in summer
avec la participation de
Lazer Guided Melodies
For our Italian friends:
Lazy Sundays
Indie for Bunnies
For our Swedish friends:
Panda Magazine
For our German friends:
Coast is Clear
Hamburg Rockt
Order our limited edition split 7" from Slumberland or Insound
[Sold Out] split 7" single w/ The Parallelograms
Order our debut EP from Insound.com HERE
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