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Track Listings
| 1. Belong |
| 2. Heaven's Gonne Happen Now |
| 3. Heart In Your Heartbreak |
| 4. The Body |
| 5. Anne With An E |
| 6. Even In Dreams |
| 7. My Terrible Friend |
| 8. Girl of 1,000 Dreams |
| 9. Too Tough |
| 10. Strange |
Product Description
Review
As every sound from the past 50 years becomes reimagined by contemporary bands, it was only a matter of time before somebody decided to create an act that recreates the sound of the 1994 movie Dumb and Dumber. The soundtrack to the Farrelly brothers’ movie is a template which The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, from New York City, have absorbed; and seeing as the people who saw that film as kids are entering adulthood around now, they may not be the last.
In particular, late-80s/early-90s bands The Primitives and the Crash Test Dummies’ sunny pop sound is mined to the effect of creating records, like their 2009 self-titled debut, that are as nostalgic as an old college sweater. But where they stray ever so slightly from the honey-sweet sound, we get a taster of a band that sounds exciting, if not exactly revolutionary. On the title-track opener what sounds like a tribute to the gentle balladeers Keane gets ripped apart by a grungey guitar, which suggests that Pains… are 80s fans whose record collection extends beyond feel-good movie soundtracks.
But from the hushed, harmonic boy/girl vocals to the big choruses, their sophomore effort doesn’t stray beyond the college radio sound of their debut; in many ways, it has less variation in its template, with fewer experiments with heavy or distorted guitars. The difference, however, is that their debut seemed to be pinning all of its hopes on its singles – plus the band’s best song to date, Contender, which was mysteriously never released as a single – becoming a smash as big as The Primitives’ Crash or the Violent Femmes’ Blister in the Sun. But Belong, while certainly not having anything that sounds like it could be such a big hit, has the consistency to keep you interested after track number four due to the quality of songwriting, if not the variation in sound.
Who knows, maybe there is a film director working on a genre piece inspired by Dumb and Dumber, and is looking for a contemporary band to launch into the mainstream with their soundtrack. If they are, there is only one place to look.
--Lewis G. Parker
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
CD
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By P. Frizelle
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Slow spinning guitar lines splattered by a fuzz of low, grumbling distortion as if Smashing Pumpkins/ Cure/ JAMC/ Smiths/ My Bloody Valentine/ Stone Roses have been rolled into one cohesive unit- Oohhh so nice.
Belong is ambitious and divisive album, but it works. Its like taking a time machine back to the days of Shoegaze, C86 and the early days of Creation Records. Brooding drones and cavernous vocals with the grungy riffing to create a dreamy landscape. The album is undoubtedly a grandchild of the 1980s that sound like it was recorded in a cathedral. This sense of distance and mysticism permeates the entire record. Atop densely woven atmospherics, vocal melodies weave to and fro, rarely touching ground, glued together by lengthy chord progressions within which listeners lose their sense of time and direction.
Despite their influences the band pull it off so well that one can't help but forgive it. So say what you will about the music sounding dated, it isn't easy to do what The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is doing. Merely appreciating music from another era is one thing, but creating highly detailed and decidedly tasteful reproductions of music from another era, replete with splashes of modern flavour, is quite another.
This is good stuff and its sad to say they will be largely undiscovered by the majority.
This is a fine CD but one that will not get that many plays. It needs to be a little more infectious
Belong is ambitious and divisive album, but it works. Its like taking a time machine back to the days of Shoegaze, C86 and the early days of Creation Records. Brooding drones and cavernous vocals with the grungy riffing to create a dreamy landscape. The album is undoubtedly a grandchild of the 1980s that sound like it was recorded in a cathedral. This sense of distance and mysticism permeates the entire record. Atop densely woven atmospherics, vocal melodies weave to and fro, rarely touching ground, glued together by lengthy chord progressions within which listeners lose their sense of time and direction.
Despite their influences the band pull it off so well that one can't help but forgive it. So say what you will about the music sounding dated, it isn't easy to do what The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is doing. Merely appreciating music from another era is one thing, but creating highly detailed and decidedly tasteful reproductions of music from another era, replete with splashes of modern flavour, is quite another.
This is good stuff and its sad to say they will be largely undiscovered by the majority.
This is a fine CD but one that will not get that many plays. It needs to be a little more infectious
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Saw this band 18 months ago and they were pure pop - Teenage Fan Club lost in Indie swirling and teen girl stories. This record, as compared to the first album has heavier production but is more grown up, more polished and simply must be played loudly and enjoyed for what it is. Lyrics are not too serious btw. This is pop...yeah yeah!!
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
'Belong' is a superlative second-showing from New York band
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Their 2009 eponymous debut
was a rough and ready but engaging affair which flew somewhat
low under the radar on our shores and disappeared almost without
trace into that place where worthy but underexposed art goes.
The new album is served well by producers Flood and Alan Moulder
who know a thing or three about how to build a big, buxom sound.
There are ten tracks in the set and collectively they pack a
phenomenal punch. The dense and occasionally dreamy quality of the
band's muse is pretty much intact but some of the new songs
have sharper edges and more immediate impact than of yore.
'Heart In Your Heartbreak' is an especially good example of their
refined melodic and rhythmic self-confidence. There's something
of The Psychedelic Furs 1984 'Mirror Moves' era about it which
I find curiously stirring. (I can be a bit moist-eyed and sentimental
when remembering The Furs - I am an old softy despite my hairy heart!)
Singer Kip Berman has a strangely affecting voice. Despite its limited
range and prominant sibilants it stands up to the task very well.
There's a lot going on in these arrangements. Strong melodies and
harmonies abound; dense ringing chords weave a rich tapestry of sound
and drummer Kurt Feldman deserves a special mention for his forthright
skill in keeping the whole big grinding machine anchored to the rails.
There are some great tunes here. 'Even In Dreams' is a real cracker!
It's got the kind of uplifting chorus which comes along once in a
while and sweeps you away (hands in the air!) with its joyous energy.... Read more ›
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. Their 2009 eponymous debut
was a rough and ready but engaging affair which flew somewhat
low under the radar on our shores and disappeared almost without
trace into that place where worthy but underexposed art goes.
The new album is served well by producers Flood and Alan Moulder
who know a thing or three about how to build a big, buxom sound.
There are ten tracks in the set and collectively they pack a
phenomenal punch. The dense and occasionally dreamy quality of the
band's muse is pretty much intact but some of the new songs
have sharper edges and more immediate impact than of yore.
'Heart In Your Heartbreak' is an especially good example of their
refined melodic and rhythmic self-confidence. There's something
of The Psychedelic Furs 1984 'Mirror Moves' era about it which
I find curiously stirring. (I can be a bit moist-eyed and sentimental
when remembering The Furs - I am an old softy despite my hairy heart!)
Singer Kip Berman has a strangely affecting voice. Despite its limited
range and prominant sibilants it stands up to the task very well.
There's a lot going on in these arrangements. Strong melodies and
harmonies abound; dense ringing chords weave a rich tapestry of sound
and drummer Kurt Feldman deserves a special mention for his forthright
skill in keeping the whole big grinding machine anchored to the rails.
There are some great tunes here. 'Even In Dreams' is a real cracker!
It's got the kind of uplifting chorus which comes along once in a
while and sweeps you away (hands in the air!) with its joyous energy.... Read more ›
By Peter Hill
Format:Audio CD
I really liked their first album which although being a bit patchy showed a lot of promise. Here, on their second album, the promise is fully realized. Apart from "Anne with an E" which is a bit too dreamy, the album is a total triumph. It just washes over you and is a joy from start to finish. It includes two of the best tracks ever written by TPOBPAH, the opener "belong" which has some great bursts of guitar and "heart in your heartbreak" which is so catchy and has some lovely/heartfelt lyrics. A lot of people seem to prefer the debut album but this is a much more polished (in a good way) affair and although Kip's voice can still be a bit of an acquired taste, for me it's just C86/shoegaze/indie rock re-invented for the new millenium and at this rate of progression the 3rd album will be a masterpiece.
By Stan FREDO
Format:Vinyl
On their second LP, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart emulate the sound a certain kind of mid-to-late 1980s pop-rock with a radio-friendly cross between mid-period OMD and the poppier-side of the mid-period JAMC. The result is rather tuneful and good but sadly brings no surprise.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Stagger Lee
Format:Audio CD
I have to say that I'm surprised by the gushing praise that this album has garnered from other generous reviewers. For me, this album did nothing more than blend into a fairly anodyne sound, one generated by a talented band content to rest on their laurels and plough a furrow through the radio-friendly indie scene.
Tracks like Belong, with it's Britpop vocals reminiscent of Frischmann and Weiner in their pomp, or Heaven's Gonna Happen Now (think pale imitation British Sea Power and you're pretty close to the mark) are perfectly pleasant to listen to but will they live long in the memory? Not likely is my somewhat rueful answer. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is the uninspiring nature of the angst ridden lyrics. I may be cynical but much of the songs read like teenage poetry, redolent of cliched sentiment and adolescent tantrums. It could also be the plodding bass, particularly evident in My Terrible Friend and Too Tough, which does little to lift this album above the ordinary and does much to inhibit its creative impact.
There are redeeming features to this record though (hence the three stars!). The Body contains hints of early New Order, no bad thing by any means, whilst some of the backing vocals and synth flourishes add much needed substance to some fairly pedestrian songs. Finally, there is one stormer of a song which stands out from the rest. Girl of 1,000 Dreams has real 'teeth', a track which revels in pummelling drums and punk pop sensibilities.
All told then, this is an instantly forgettable record which, although polished and certainly appealing to the indie mainstream, offers little to the discerning record buyer.
Tracks like Belong, with it's Britpop vocals reminiscent of Frischmann and Weiner in their pomp, or Heaven's Gonna Happen Now (think pale imitation British Sea Power and you're pretty close to the mark) are perfectly pleasant to listen to but will they live long in the memory? Not likely is my somewhat rueful answer. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is the uninspiring nature of the angst ridden lyrics. I may be cynical but much of the songs read like teenage poetry, redolent of cliched sentiment and adolescent tantrums. It could also be the plodding bass, particularly evident in My Terrible Friend and Too Tough, which does little to lift this album above the ordinary and does much to inhibit its creative impact.
There are redeeming features to this record though (hence the three stars!). The Body contains hints of early New Order, no bad thing by any means, whilst some of the backing vocals and synth flourishes add much needed substance to some fairly pedestrian songs. Finally, there is one stormer of a song which stands out from the rest. Girl of 1,000 Dreams has real 'teeth', a track which revels in pummelling drums and punk pop sensibilities.
All told then, this is an instantly forgettable record which, although polished and certainly appealing to the indie mainstream, offers little to the discerning record buyer.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
I have only heard 30 seconds.......
..of the album but that is because the first 30 seconds are just amazing and I am just playing it over and over again. Read more
Published on 28 April 2011 by Blue Naters
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!
I don't do massive reviews disecting each track, I'll just say what I think & this is a great cd!
If you like 'white lies' 'james' 'kooks' etc etc then this'll fit in with... Read more
If you like 'white lies' 'james' 'kooks' etc etc then this'll fit in with... Read more
Published on 1 April 2011 by PhilthyPhil
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