Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at 2017 Octfest in Brooklyn, NY
Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at 2017 Northside Festival in Brooklyn, NY
Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Baby’s All Right in Brooklyn, NY on March 3rd, 2016
Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Bowery Ballroom in New York, NY on May 22nd, 2014
Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at 2014 Buku Project in New Orleans, LA
Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at 2012 FYF Fest in Los Angeles, CA
Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at 2011 POPPED! Festival in Philadelphia, PA
Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at Terminal 5 in New York, NY on August 8th, 2011
Photos of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at 2011 Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal, PQ, Canada
Back the long-long-ago of the aughts-into-teens, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart brought the lovely neo-New Wave of eighties fuzz into twenty-first century New York City. But time still moves on, and so did main Pains man Kip Berman, moving to Princeton and doing solo folk as The Natvral. But everything also comes back again, and Berman has now revived Pains, so coming with that is the collection of early singles on Slumberland Records, Perfect Right Now.
Decidedly a throwback to the sweet indie sounds that came out around 2008-2010 which Slumberland specialized in, Perfect is a delightful album. There’s the sweet energy of “Come Saturday”, sunny catch of “Side Ponytail”, and “The Pains of Being Pure at Heart” is basically the band’s lovely mission statement.
Maybe The Pains of Being Pure at Heart don’t fit in today’s darker times, where those with any heart are feeling pains. But that just means we need them more, a refreshing blast from the not-too-distant past.
