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 Brooklyn trio of vocalist/guitarist Kip Berman, bassist Alex Naidus, and vocalist/keyboardist Peggy Wang-East 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. That said, if you're in the mood for the brothers Reid check out the amply titled "Doing All the Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents Proud." Want a little more Verve? Drift straight for the title track.
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - "Doing All The Things That Wouldn't Make Your Parents Proud" (MP3)
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - "The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart" (MP3)
This could be a fuzz pop-induced pipe dream, but we'd loved to see 'em hook up with Manhattan Love Suicides for a post-C86 package tour?
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart EP is out on Painbow Records. Be their friend.
