As thrilled as I was to see the Vivian Girls at The Old Blue Last recently, I was gutted to arrive as The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were performing their last handful of songs. After having heard a few of their tunes earlier in the year, I became instantly smitten with the Brooklyn indiepop four piece. Had I known they were on the bill, I would have been there early, but missing most of this set was undoubtedly karmic payback for my recent rant against vague gig timings. Fortunately fate granted me a reprieve: after a brief post-gig chat with their guitarist/singer, Kip, I learned that they were staying in the UK for several weeks. On their last night in the country (before heading out for a North American tour that finds them at Schubas next month), I thankfully had another chance to hear a full set of their catchy charms.
Despite the overwhelming number of brilliant indiepop bands that the United Kingdom has produced, the country's always had a bit of an uneasy relationship with a sound that should rightly be regarded as a national treasure. Perhaps it's Britain's self-loathing nature or its general disdain for all things cute, but ever since the word "twee" was first used to describe short shimmering broken-hearted pop songs, the gentler cousin of punk rock has always had to sit awkwardly in the corner whilst acts with more testosterone occupied center stage. From one look inside the Lexington on this bitterly cold Wednesday night, however, you couldn't tell this was ever the case, as the pub was packed with pop fans eager to bounce to the beat of one of the genre's most brilliant new torchbearers.
With their debut
album soon to be released by classic pop imprint Slumberland Records,
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart may not have a massive catalogue of
songs to play live, but every tune they do have is certifiably ace. At
the core of their sound are fuzzy keyboards and a manically strummed
guitar backing the lovely boy-girl harmonies of their two front people,
Peggy and Kip. Peggy's never-fading smile, coupled with Kip's shy
approach to rocking, immediately disarms the audience. Even if you've
seen as many sugar-smacked guitar acts over the past few decades
as I have, it's hard not to have your heart warmed by a band with an
approach as genuine as theirs.
Evoking a young Jonathan Richman not only with his clean-cut style and stiff guitar stance, Kip's frenzied jangling shows the punk roots lying just beneath the band's sweet sound. Stand out numbers "The Tenure Itch" and "Everything With You" recalled The Sea Urchins' finest moments, while the entire set had exactly the right level of noise to make it sound like it had been playing from an old flexi disc. By the time the group closed the set with their self-titled theme song (something every band needs), the crowd pushed and shoved itself close to a proper pit, making it very clear that just because someone wears a cardigan, doesn't mean they won't kick your ass.
My taste in music has shifted around quite a bit since the bulk of my record collection consisted primarily of 7"s on K and Sarah, but The Pains of Being Pure at Heart craft such perfect pop gems, that I might just have to dust off that old Pastels badge in the nightstand and give it a home on my jacket again.
Download: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Everything With You"
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Posted by: Larissa | 01/16/2009 at 03:31 AM