Belong by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
LABEL: Slumberland Records / Collective Sounds
New York’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart captured the independent music scene in 2009 with their endearing self-titled debut. As a band that’s was influenced by the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Ride, and Asobi Seksu, The Pains’ shoegazey, noisey sound is a nostalgic wonderland. The band continues their unprecedented appreciation of shoegaze, noise-pop with their alluring and charming sophomore effort, Belong.
“Berman’s sweet nothings are more than just simple admissions of love, but rather a wholehearted acknowledgement of loyalty and devotion...”
Two years removed from their debut, The Pains’ are continuing with the same appealing sound that made their first album so well received. Belong, however, does find itself diverging from its predecessor in a small way. Some tracks on Belong find a new appreciation for light, synthy sounds. For example, “My Terrible Friend” contains a catchy, glowing synth instrumentation that simply flourishes when surrounded by fuzzed-out riffs and lead singer Kip Berman’s delicate vocals. But the band, who are known for their robust guitar instrumentation, still manages to create some head banging tunes (“Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now”, “Heart In Your Heart Break”).
In addition to their zealous instrumentation, Pains are known for their lovely harmonization, and Belong is no exception to that. Tracks like “Belong” and “Heart In Your Heartbreak” include endearing harmonies between Berman and keyboardist Peggy Wang. Their light-as-a-feather voices help the album to float in the air despite the distortion and heftiness of the guitars, drums, and bass.
Lyrically, Kip Berman steps his game up a bit in Belong. Though their previous release was acclaimed for its wonderful capturing of pure passion (as seen in “This Love is Fucking Right” on their debut), Berman aims for a much sharper sense of lyricism. In an interview with Pitchfork, Berman stated, “I like the idea of lyrics that don’t get beyond themselves but catch you and make an impression. I think that’s more emotionally compelling.” This is best seen in the aforementioned “My Terrible Friend” where Berman murmurs, “Everyone is pretty and fun/ Everyone is lovely and young/ Everyone is gentle and gone/ But everyone’s just everyone.” Berman’s sweet nothings are more than just simple admissions of love, but rather a wholehearted acknowledgement of loyalty and devotion, “Even in dreams/ I will not betray you.”
With Belong, Pains make no attempt to fix what’s not broken. The album is deeply reliant on the same sound heard in their debut album, however, they make a few tweaks to ensure that Belong is not a carbon copy. The album is a full-fledged pledge of allegiance to nostalgia. It’s the kind of wistfulness reserved for the broken hearted, but it’s lined with the kind of optimism that’s just too hard to not believe in.
REVIEWED BY ADRIAN ROJAS
ADRIAN’S FAVORITE TRACKS: “Belong” • “Heart In Your Heartbreak” • “My Terrible Friend”
Read more from Adrian on his blog, On the Importance of Being Rash
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong by Slumberland Records
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Heart In Your Heartbreak by Slumberland Records 
