The Pains of Being Pure at Heart “Higher Than The Stars EP” Review

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are a fortunate band. Not only has their fuzzed out post-punk pop hit the scene smack dab in the middle of a ’80s revitalization in popular culture (take a look at this picture and just try to tell me that it doesn’t look like an American Apparel Ad), they also did it at a time when the fruits of that decade just happen to include a large number of current music critics/bloggers. Those who suckled at the teat of London post-punk and early nineties indie rock can hardly be blamed for favoring a band who draws heavily from the best of those genres. Throw in some adolescent lyrics about teenage love and suddenly we are all awkward fumbling kids again, pining over first loves and trading Maxell cassette tapes. If you think I am wrong about this just look at the music scene right now: Dinosaur Jr. are touring to support a brand new album, Pavement is getting back together, My Bloody Valentine already did, not to mention the Jesus Lizard, the Cure, and the Stone Roses; it’s like every band from between 1985 and 1995 has decided to cash in on the nostalgia while it lasts. But I digress, I am not trying to peg the Pains as an opportunistic shape shifter, just that they happen to be a new band that happens to sound a whole lot like old bands. But which bands don’t, anyways? And few do it better than the Pains of Pure at Heart who recently released the Higher Than The Stars EP, not long after their terrific eponymous debut.

The EP offers four new songs, as well as a St. Etienne remix of the self titled lead track. Strangely for a remix, the original version is actually quite a bit more engaging, with a peppier beat and desperately punched synths that fit the song’s puerile lyrics perfectly. The remix on the other hand is all fuzzed out dream pop. “103″ is an bouncy little jam over some heavily underlying guitar distortion. It’s a pretty straightforward track but also one of the catchiest on the EP due to lead vocalist Kip Berman’s charming starry-eyed candor. “Falling Over” is a little less appealing, a dreamy synth number, sounding a lot like one of mid-’90s band Tahiti 80′s less polished material. Lastly “Twins” rounds out the mix with a little guitar heavy alterna-rock. It’s nothing that you haven’t heard before but the hook is undeniably captivating. You could probably say that about the Pains sound in general though: if you are over twenty five you have probably heard it before. But it is probably also been quite a long time since you have heard it done this well.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart “Higher Than The Stars” [MP3]

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Also: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ Pitchfork Music Festival 2009