The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: Live At The Lexington
Words by Daniel Shane
The buzz surrounding the Pains of Being Pure at Heart extends beyond the saw-tooth overdrive drenching each track on their self-titled debut. Positive feedback from giants such as the New York Times has only served to propel this latest set of shoegaze darlings into the limelight and marking their first European tour is tonight’s headline slot at north-east London’s rock venue-cum-whiskey den the Lexington.
Following tentative beginnings (singer Kip Berman on first impressions doesn’t look like he would be able to lift a guitar, nevermind belt out the necessary racket with one), the New York fivesome launches into a staunch, melodic Wall of Sound with anthems such as playfully obnoxious ‘This Love is Fucking Right’ and the hook-laden distortion of ‘Come Saturday’.
The first point of reference for the collective is late 1980s/early 1990s noise-pop movement, such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride, C86, etc (keyboard player Peggy Wang confirms afterwards that Sunny Sundae Smile is a permanent fixture in her CD player), with all the harsh catchiness of this era replicated faithfully.
Although mimicry is called the greatest form of flattery (is that something people say?), the Pains of Being at Heart are wise to add their own equation to the shoegaze formulae. While the likes of Kevin Shields and Velocity Girl were permanently in a state of glum self-reflection, this outfit shun the darkside and show an uplifting willingness to celebrate life, love, etc - albeit with a heavy slap of ironic self-doubt.
Never afraid of throwing the odd ballad into the mix, Pains slow things down a degree for Stay Alive. A disparate, hopeful pop song reminiscent of the Field Mice at their height, led by a lonely, reluctant synth chime which can only just push the track through its five-minute duration.
As with all shoegaze acts, the live sound on the night is ultimate. As expected, electric guitar and fuzzboxes rule the sonics on these occasions - turned up to create a maelstrom where vocals are reduced to a phantom echo. As a result, the synthesiser drowns in the noise (Serge, a bland NYC hipster, repeatedly jumps in to ‘improvise’ his own synth lines from the comfort of stage-left not realising no-one can hear him), minimising its impact.
Towards the apex of their 60-minute performance, the band’s lack of strong material begins to peer through. While this is probably the bane of most debut artists, it puts myth to the supply and demand theory, with the audience demanding more encores and more music, with the group only able to deliver weaker moments such ‘A Teenager in Love’ and ‘Hey Paul’.
With tonight’s show being a sell-out, it seems that the buzz surrounding the Pains of Being Pure at Heart is unlikely to simmer out anytime soon. But while the band (at least seem to) have the potential to move onto bigger venues, bigger gate prices (the Lexington show was less than a fiver - pocket change), it may take a few more sessions back in the recording studio for them to piece together the lightning bolt set they’re capable of.
Posted Tue, May 26, 2009