The Pains of Being Pure at Heart live at Amoeba Music SF April 19, 2011

New York City’s pre-eminent indie-pop band The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s second album, Belong, will be unleashed on March 29. Recorded with the production and mixing team of Flood (Depeche Mode, U2) and Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ride), Belong explodes with added power, while retaining all the sweet melodies that still hit that pop spot.
A continuation of what they started is a good thing, considering the loyal admirers and grass-roots support for what "could be the most promising indie-pop group around" (Pitchfork). One can certainly feel the intuitiveness and immediacy in each of the album's ten tracks. But where past offerings might've cocooned front man Kip Berman's woozy tales and beckoning high tenor in layers of gauze, Belong bathes them in a cathedral-like stained-glass light, revealing the beauty and pop perfection that once hid beneath fuzz and reverb. Radiant and heavenly, the band exults in the freedom and possibilities of pushing their sound beyond simple fuzz pop motifs and, liberated from the burden of those fuzzy memories, elevates their songwriting to new heights.

Also catch them that night at the Great American Music Hall.

Official Website: http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/performances/san-francisco/2011-april-19/the-pains-of-being-pure-at-heart/artist.html