The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - The Pains of Being Pure At Heart (Slumberland Records, 2009)

From the opening jangly guitars of Contender, the first song from the Pains of Being Pure At Heart's debut self-titled album, you will find yourself immdeiately hooked by the echoes of Brit-Pop's glory days circa 1986. The warm, infectious melodies; the superb boy/girl harmonies of singer-guitarist, Kip, and keyboard player-vocalist, Peggy, are enought to set your head swimming.
With an album running time of 34 minutes 58 secs - The Pains Of Being At Heart find a way to incorporate elements of shoe-gaze, good old-fashioned pop hooks and teenlove angst into songs that will be playing over-and-over in your head long after the record has stopped spinning.
Young Adult Friction is a perfect example of the band's winning combination.
Wall-of-sound guitars, fragile vocals, a propulsive drum beat - and the repeated refrain of "Don't Check Me Out" that closes out the song, which begs for a crwod sing-a-long.
Other songs on the album, including This Love Is Fucking Right! and A Teenager In Love, give you a firm indication of what this band is about. Forget about Heartbreak and 808s - try out some heartbreak with drums, bass, guitars and vocals. You will find it far more rewarding.
The Pains Of Being Pure Heart's bandwagon is well-and-truly rolling, and we here at In(High)Fidelity are hitching a ride. Ignore them at your own peril.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/thepainsofbeingpureatheart