The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Mistletone, The Thousands + FBi Radio present the return of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart for Laneway Festival 2012, plus headline shows in Melbourne & Sydney with special guest Geoffrey O’Connor.

After garnering widespread acclaim from the likes of The New York Times, Pitchfork and NME to countless indiepop forums and blogs for their out-of-nowhere self-titled 2009 Slumberland debut, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart made another classic indie pop record this year. Having moved beyond mimicking (albeit exquisitely) their impressive record collections, Belong is a celebration of the possibilities of pop from New York City’s pre-eminent indie pop believers.

The Pains make affecting, yet unaffected pop music which is at once confidently vulnerable and carelessly thoughtful. Recorded with the production and mixing team of Flood (Depeche Mode, U2) and Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride), Belong unleashed added power for The Pains, while retaining all the sweet sweet melodies that still hit that pop spot.

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”) Pitchfork (“could be the most promising indie pop group around“), Stereogum (“addictive pop gold”) and The NME (“pure indie pop to hold close to your heart”).

More recently Pitchfork rated Belong at 8.2 and bestowed it with Best New Music status, noting: “it’s no small achievement that Belong transcends its time-coded sound as expertly as their self-titled did”.

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.