The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – Belong by Slumberland Records
Having moved beyond mimicking, albeit exquisitely, their impressive record collections, this album is a celebration of the possibilities of pop from New York City’s pre-eminent indiepop believers. It is as much an affirmative answer to “can they” (rise above their influences? Capture the magic of their debut without repeating it? Use color on their album sleeves?) as it opens the door to the more difficult question of “how do they?”
Or more precisely, how do they make such affecting, yet unaffected pop music? How do they sound at once confidently vulnerable and carelessly thoughtful? How does a band on Slumberland make a record with two of the most recognized producers in the world and come out the other end sounding even more like themselves than before? The dichotomies are daunting, but their resolution on Belong is nothing short of stunning.
Recorded with the production and mixing team of Flood (Depeche Mode, U2) and Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride), Belong unleashes added power, while retaining all the sweet sweet melodies that still hit that pop spot.
THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
05/03 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club *
05/06 New York, NY Webster Hall * %
07/31 Montreal, QC Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
08/02 Toronto, ONT The Opera House #
08/03 Pontiac, MI The Crofoot Ballroom #
08/04 Newport, KY Southgate House #
08/05 St. Louis, MO Off Broadway #
08/07 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
08/09 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Small’s
* = w/ Twin Shadow
% = w/ Big Troubles
# = w/ Craft Spells
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Belong
(Slumberland)
Street Date: March 29, 2011
1. Belong
2. Heaven’s Gonna 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
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Belong single
(Slumberland)
Street Date: March 15, 2011
A. Belong
B. I Wanna Go All The Way
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Heart In Your Heartbreak single
(Slumberland)
Street Date: Dec. 14, 2010
A. Heart In Your Heartbreak
B. The One
THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART LINKS:
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/thepainsofbeingpureatheart
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/thepainsofbeing
Press Materials – http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/press/pobpah/pobpah.html