It’s difficult to fight the charms of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, not that we’re trying very hard to anyway. The NYC band’s blend of twee-pop and noise-rock is backed up in its execution by the sheer sincerity of the group themselves. They just come across as swell guys, don’t they? Like somebody you would meet in a coffee shop or library but neither one of you able or assertive enough to speak up and mention that you like the other’s book/music taste, so you just sit in silence instead.
But their music isn’t about sitting in silence, it’s about trying to let go, have fun and maybe even dance. Their just-uploaded video to new single ‘The Body’, off their more polished, less shoegazey but nonetheless superb second album Belong, contrasts the mundane daily routines of the band with the joy of seaside and sun frolicks of their kid body doubles. Somehow such a sad song and notion becomes uplifting as the band search for a place somewhere in between these two states to, indeed, belong.
Catch the video below. ‘The Body’ is released on July 25 via Slumberland.
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