The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have cheesy name, good sound

The New York quartet's self-titled debut is cute and enjoyable.

By Tom Carbone

Published Jan. 29, 2009

I have this really bad habit of dismissing a band based solely on its name. Band names like Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cute Is What We Aim For and Bullet For My Valentine are some of the most cringe-worthy out there right now, and just as expected, the terrible band name carries over into the music as well.

Typically, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a four-piece band from New York, would fall into this category. But their self-titled debut, scheduled for release Feb. 3, is far from cringe-worthy -- it's cute twee-pop. It's understandable that there are plenty of people out there that find the term and the music twee-pop annoying, but there is not a better way to describe these guys (and gal).

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart combine the noisy aspects of an early My Bloody Valentine with the boy-girl harmonies and guitar melodies of a veteran pop band. There is even a distinct punk vibe on their debut, similar to a female-fronted Ramones.

"Come Saturday," the second track on the album, combines all of these influences to create a song that is easily in the running for an, albeit early, song of the year nomination. The group gives off an experienced vibe that cannot be rivaled by any group in this genre right now. This song in particular has all of the fundamentals of an essential twee hit: boy-girl vocals, cheesy lyrics and a super-sick guitar solo. But after a few listens, the lyrics are not as cheesy and they actually start to make sense beyond the surface level.

"You don't have to dress to please/perhaps undress for me," exclaims Kip, joint-vocalist on the track. He's being blunt in his love songs, something many lyricists try to dance around.

"This Love is Fucking Right!" mixes in a lot of the same influences and elements as the first few tracks and even throws a Bob Dylan reference into the chorus for good measure. But a few lyrics like "In the dark room we can do what we like/you're my sister/and this love is fucking right," give off an incestuous stench like none other. Who knows if the lyrics are a metaphor for something else, but the song itself is pure at heart, to say the very least.

The energy does not stop throughout the record, which is very evident in the latter half of the album. "Everything With You" is one of those songs that you wouldn't be able to pinpoint the year (or decade for that matter) of its release. The song gives off a shoegaze sensation that sounds like it could have been recorded 20 years ago. Dreamy, noisily distorted lyrics like "Tell me it's true/I want everything with you," will make even the most jaded twee-pop listener fill with joy.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have put together an album this year worthy of all the praise it will undoubtedly get. Between their unique approach to creating twee-pop in the 21st century and their unrivaled boy-girl harmonies, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will definitely be a band heard about at the end of the year. Let's just hope 2009 isn't the year for phenomenal indie-pop-something that could result in this amazing self-titled debut being shoved under the stack of new releases.