GROOVES: Gleaming rays of pop from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Published: 1 March, 2012
by ALAN STAFFORD
It’s easy to despair for the future of pop as celebrity stars manufactured on talentless talent shows roll off the conveyor belt.
Indie-rock shambles along on its skinny jean-clad last legs, the unloved zombie stepchild of 1980s alternative music.
The charts fill with reheated R&B and glossy songs penned by millionaire songwriters, who once dreamed of sounding different and ended up sounding just the same.
But brave pop music of exuberance, joy and despair still exist, gleaming rays of light in the gloom, and few shine more brightly than The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart.
The Brooklyn four-piece bring their sparkling, shimmering indie-pop to the O2 Islington Academy next month, their only UK date following a string of shows in south-east Asia – including Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand – unfamiliar territory for most indie-poppers.
The Pains are a band who wear their influences on their sleeves. Their first album was filled with fuzzy Jesus And Mary Chain guitars, and a studied
lo-fi feel.
Last spring’s follow-up Belong was altogether bigger and more ambitious, like early Smashing Pumpkins – perhaps unsurprisingly, as it was co-produced by 90s mega-producers Flood and Alan Moulder, who worked with the Pumpkins as well as acts such as U2 and Depeche Mode.
Its synthier moments also have something of New Order about them.
According to singer-guitarist Kip Berman, the second album is “more immediate, more noisy, more beautiful”. He adds: “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.”
Making music that sounds a bit like other famous successful acts is always risky, and musos love to dismiss new bands by rolling their eyes and saying “this was done better by the Ramones in 1977/My Bloody Valentine 1984/ Dinosaur Jr in 1991”.
But The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have their own sound, and, crucially, the ability to create the elusive air of joy and slight sadness which runs through all great pop.
As perhaps befits the “purity” of their name, the band have turned down money for their music to be used on adverts. At the time Berman tweeted: “Not self-righteous, just rather be unknown than known for that”.
However, he has the wit to realise this is probably something that will come back to haunt the band. He told one interviewer slightly ruefully that “if someone else had said that, I probably would’ve rolled my eyes at them”.
So they want success on their own terms, and aren’t afraid to ignore the quick-fix TV route to fame. Anyone looking to renew their faith in the beauty of great pop need look no further.
• The Pains of Being Pure at Heart play O2 Islington Academy on March 8