The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (album)


The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is the debut studio album by American indie pop band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. It was released on February 3, 2009 by Slumberland in the United States and Fortuna Pop! in the United Kingdom. The album was recorded at Honeyland Studios in Brooklyn, New York, and was mixed by Archie Moore. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart was released to generally warm critical reception.

Musical style

The album's sound has been compared to My Bloody Valentine, Ride, The Field Mice and The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Reception

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart received generally positive reviews. On the review aggregate site Metacritic, the album holds a score of 76 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews." NMEs Nathaniel Cramp praised the album as "pure indie-pop to hold close to your heart." Pitchfork accorded the album a "Best New Music" designation, and the site's Ian Cohen wrote that the band had "made a slyly confident debut that mixes sparkling melodies with an undercurrent of sad bastard mopery, and you're just being a dick if you think the past has some kind of patent on that." Robert Christgau of MSN Music said of the band: "Not only do they have a sound, they have tunes, and the words bring both home. One day it will please them to remember even this."
AllMusic's Tim Sendra was more reserved in his praise, writing that the album would have benefited from "a little more variation from song to song, a little more of their own sound, or another song or two as compelling as the best stuff here", but nonetheless concluding: "Settling for impressive is fair enough and good enough for fans of loud, fuzzy, and heartfelt indie noise pop." In a mixed review, Maddy Costa of The Guardian wrote that "anyone convinced that the C86 bands represent a nadir of tweeness will hate it – while anyone who thinks that Britpop and dance music ruined indie will fall hopelessly in love." PopMatters Matthew Fiander criticized the album for lack of originality and felt that on the second half of the album, "the melodies sound a little too simple, the vocals almost anemic, and the songs take on a dreary-afternoon trudge."
Pitchfork ranked The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at number 19 on its list of the best albums of 2009, while the song "Young Adult Friction" placed at number 30 on its list of the best tracks of 2009. In 2018, Pitchfork ranked the album at number 28 on its list of the 30 best dream pop albums.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart adapted from album liner notes.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Production
Artwork and design