The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart Zip Download
Loreta Mihor
Do The Pains of Being Pure At Heart belong? After garnering widespread acclaim from the likes of The New York Times, Pitchfork and NME to countless indiepop forums, blogs and even Live Journals for their out-of-nowhere s/t 2009 Slumberland debut, have The Pains made the kind of record that will matter to the kind of people to whom records still matter?
From the opening explosions of electric guitar on "Belong" ("We don't") and the sumptuously synthetic dance pop perfection of "The Body" to the prom-in-heaven chorus of "Even in Dreams" and the closing moments of the uncommonly sincere and affecting "Strange" ("...and dreams can still come true") the answer is an unqualified, resounding (and damn good sounding) "Yes."
Having moved beyond mimicking, albeit exquisitely, their impressive record collections, this album is a celebration of the possibilities of pop from New York City's pre-eminent indiepop believers. It is as much an affirmative answer to "can they" (rise above their influences? Capture the magic of their debut without repeating it? Use color on their album sleeves?) as it opens the door to the more difficult question of "how do they?"
Or more precisely, how do they make such affecting, yet unaffected pop music? How do they sound at once confidently vulnerable and carelessly thoughtful? How does a band on Slumberland make a record with two of the most recognized producers in the world and come out the other end sounding even more like themselves than before? The dichotomies are daunting, but their resolution on Belong is nothing short of stunning.
Recorded with the production and mixing team of Flood (Depeche Mode, U2) and Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride), Belong unleashes added power, while retaining all the sweet sweet melodies that still hit that pop spot.
"I definitely see this album as keeping with what we started doing at the beginning, only more," says singer/guitarist Kip Berman. "More immediate, more noisy, more beautiful. We never stopped believing in noise and pop, but now we've pushed both further. Compared to the last record, It's far more visceral, more vital, more of the body. It's about feeling, not feelings."
A continuation of what they started is a good thing, considering the loyal admirers and grass-roots support for what "could be the most promising indie pop group around" (Pitchfork). Never ones to get bogged down in self-seriousness, though, what we've got here is a band who tends to spend most interviews talking about how barely-remembered underground pop bands of the 80s and 90s are far superior to their own music, eats copious amounts of Haribo Gummi Candy and plays Boggle and Basketball on the road.
One can certainly feel the intuitiveness and immediacy in each of the album's ten tracks. But where past offerings might've cocooned front man Kip Berman's woozy tales and beckoning high tenor in layers of gauze, Belong bathes them in a cathedral-like stained-glass light, revealing the beauty and pop perfection that once hid beneath fuzz and reverb. Radiant and heavenly, the band exults in the freedom and possibilities of pushing their sound beyond simple fuzz pop motifs and, liberated from the burden of those fuzzy memories, elevates their songwriting to new heights.
"Alan Moulder and Flood had a lot to do with helping us believe in ourselves, but they didn't try to change the way we did things," says Berman. "They just helped us focus on the things that made us 'us,' and allowed us to go all-in on the things we loved and strip away the things we didn't. It was an amazingly validating experience to even get a chance to work with them, since they came into this because they saw something in our music, not because we were some kind of fat paycheck or will win them a Grammy.
Perhaps not, but The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have come a long way since their beginnings as drum-machine equipped neophytes playing a legendary 5 song, ten-minute set at Peggy's birthday party in March of 2007.
Through a self-released EP in 2007 and a series of eagerly-received singles like 2008's "Everything With You" and "Kurt Cobain's Cardigan" the band developed an intensely loyal underground following. Upon release of their self-titled debut album in 2009, that acclaim extended to well-respected cultural tastemakers like The New York Times ("sensitive and sublime, Best of 2009) Pitchfork (Best New Music, Best of 2009) Stereogum ("Addictive pop gold" Best of 2009) and The NME ("pure indiepop to hold close to your heart," Best of 2009).
Looking forward, Spin chose Belong as one of the upcoming "winter albums that matter most", and Pitchfork gave the single "Heart in Your Heartbreak "Best New Music, stating "It's immediately appealing in the same way their debut was."
Belong's strength is the quality of the songwriting and each songs ability to sound distinct from one another while still holding together as a unified record from start to finish. Some, like the fuzz-mad "Heaven's Gonna Happen Now," "Girl of 1,000 Dreams" and statuesque "Too Tough" wouldn't sound out of place on their first LP, taking their cues from Berman's plaintive voice and liberal use of fuzz guitar. Others, like "The Body" and "My Terrible Friend" derive their power from drummer Kurt Feldman's pulsing rhythms and Peggy Wang's more pronounced keyboard lines - a winning development that helps push the band beyond their comfort zones to great effect.
One place they never deviate is in their connection with their fans. Like them, The Pains have an idealism that stems from a nearly unhealthy devotion to pop music. Talking to the members one needs to pull out their band-to-conversation calculator, as they are likely to go off about bands they love - from The Pastels, The Promise Ring and Black Tambourine to Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins and O.M.D.
Brooklyn's melodic, crafty shoegazers, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, kick off a short summer tour with Surfer Blood and Hooray for Earth tomorrow, June 3 in Milford, Connecticut. The quartet - guitarist/vocalist Kip Berman, keyboardist/vocalist Peggy Wang, bassis Alex Naidus and drummer Kurt Feldman (who moonlights as frontman of his own band, The Depreciation Guild) - will head into a studio at tour's end to record their sophomore album, the followup to their 2009 eponymous debut. That record not only earned them critical accolades, swoons and sighs, but a devoted, global army of fans.
Back in April, they released an effervescent new single, "Say No To Love," on Slumberland Records, the adventurous 21-year old indie label that Berman and his POBPAH compadres deeply admired long before they were signed by owner Mike Schulman. Berman calls Slumberland bands - like Stereolab, Velocity Girl and Black Tambourine - "more intense emotionally and visceral."
The Alternate Side caught up with Kip, Peggy and Alex in Austin during SXSW (Kurt was off with The Depreciation Guild). Over Bloody Marys and omelets on the front porch of The Driskill Hotel, the three friends discussed their plans for the new album, the wonders of Japanese bagels, the invaluable support of Schulman in their lives and why the quartet's close, affectionate bond has made their rock 'n' roll adventure a true labor of love:
Kip Berman: It's actually really exciting for us because it's almost like starting the whole process over in a strange sense. Now that we've toured behind our first record and the EP pretty extensively it's a lot of fun to have people ask what's next. And have the opportunity to play new songs for people It's something we've been looking forward to doing and have had to kind of hold back on. If you're going somewhere for the first time, people want to hear the songs on the [first] album.
Kip: We've been writing pretty consistently this winter and learning new material. We recorded a single [that came out] on Slumberland Records, our beloved label. It's called "Say No To Love." We've been playing that song live. This summer, after a little more touring with Surfer Blood we're going to be going into the studio to work on our next record. Something I've been looking forward to for a really long time. We're excited about the songs and I feel it's our job to focus on making the songs as good as we can make them.
Kip: Well, the ones that we're playing is a song called "The Heart in Your Heartbreak" and "Heaven's Gonna Happen Now." We have more, but we don't want to annoy people by playing a lot of songs they haven't heard. In a strange way, it's not fun to see a band if you're hearing songs that you're not familiar with. So we're just trying to parse it out in a good way.
Peggy Wang: A lot of the bands had great pop songs with great hooks and they could be lighthearted, but also dark. I feel that bands like 14 Iced Bears or Black Tambourine have songs that aren't just catchy, but resonate with me emotionally.
Kip: I think there's a misunderstanding with a lot of indie pop that it's somehow light and all about picnics and bicycle rides. There is a lot of that, but Slumberland bands are more intense emotionally and visceral. [The bands] would sing about sex, not just holding hands. There's also a sonic element of a lot of dissonance as well. It's not just clean, perfectionist pop. There's lot of noise and experimentation. Stereolab put out singles, a lot of that Rocketship album [A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness] isn't jangly guitars; it's washes of noise. Black Tambourine was a noisy band. Aesthetically there was a lot to love about the label. The contemporary bands on it, bands like Crystal Stilts or Cause Commotion, were bands that we admired in Brooklyn. Even beyond the tradition of the music - when you meet Mike Schulman, who runs the label, you wish he were your Dad. Not to disrespect your own Dad! He's extremely passionate about the music, but so responsible and supportive. He's someone you can turn to and ask questions.
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