The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Artist Information

Biography

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.

Instrumentation

Kip - Guitar Vox
Peggy - Keyboard Vox
Kurt - Drums
Alex - Bass

Discography

s/t EP (Painbow 01)
"This Love is Fucking Right" single (Cloudberry 13)
Kurt Cobain's Cardigan single (Atomic Beat Records 03)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart LP (Slumberland 2009)

Audio

• Everything With You
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• Young Adult Friction
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• Come Saturday
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• Doing All The Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents Proud
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Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Stereogum - Band to Watch [+ Show ]
  

  The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart's dreamy self-titled debut EP contains less than 15 minutes of musi...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...

• Big Takeover - EP Review [+ Show ]
  

  It’s been far too long since I’ve heard a record that’s made such a visceral impression on me as thi...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!

• Indiepages Review [+ Show ]
  

  Incredibly melodic and beautiful tunes wrapped in layers of effected-guitars and backed by a drum ma...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

• Indie-Mp3 Review [+ Show ]
  

  "I first heard NYC's the The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart when I picked up their recent This Love is..."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!"

• Fire Escape Talking live review [+ Show ]
  

  The basic impulse of bubblegum pop played fast, dirty and gleefully just like the Ramones; it’s the ...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...

Setlist

20 minutes

Doing all The Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents
Proud
This Love is Fucking Right
Young Adult Friction
Come Saturday
The Tenure Itch
Everything With You
103
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Basic Requirements

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