The sheer number of live shows, cost of tickets and the expense of a night out, plus, undoubtedly - old age, mean that I am a lot more particular about the shows I buy tickets for these days.
That said, I still do pretty well and probably average 2-3/month. Not bad going for a 49-year old!
When 432 Presents announced The Pains of Being Pure at Heart would be playing Stereo in Glasgow to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their eponymous debut album, I knew I'd be buying a ticket as soon as they went on sale.
Hailing from New York City, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart seemed to arrive fully formed, a fuzzy dream of youthful longing, distortion, blurred melodies and all kinds of indie cool. They had a (non-album) single in 2008 called Kurt Cobain's Cardigan. This was a band who proudly wore their influences, JAMC, MBV and Ride, on their (cardigan) sleeves.
I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty sure it was Monorail that turned me on to the band and I bought this album on CD. I wish I'd bought it on vinyl!
Revisiting the record feels both deeply nostalgic and effortlessly fresh—like rediscovering an old mixtape filled with fuzzed-out guitars, aching melodies, and the whispered promise of escape.
From the moment Contender kicks in with its shimmering guitars and Kip Berman’s soft, yearning vocals, you’re transported to a world of wide-eyed romance, heartache, and the unshakeable feeling that music might just save your life ... or at least help you escape for a while.
At just 34 minutes, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is a rush of indie-pop perfection. Come Saturday and Young Adult Friction are urgent and euphoric, driven by walls of guitar and shimmering synths. The breakdown in the latter leading to the boy/girl sung don't check me out mantra that ends the song is magical.
With melodies soaked in reverb and drum beats straight from early Pastels records This Love Is Fucking Right is absolutely glorious.
Stay Alive is an absolute heartbreaker, like The Sundays jamming with JAMC. Sometimes the quietest moments hit the hardest.
don't you try to shoot up the sky
tonight we'll stay alive
Dreamy teenage lyrics are almost hidden under the guitars at times. There are harmonies and hooks beneath the scuzzed up guitars of Everything With You.
A Teenager in Love rides in on a riff reminiscent of Bowie's Modern Love as if covered by Orange Juice. Hey Paul turns the fuzz and scuzz on the guitars to max and Gentle Sons tugs on heart strings to close the album.
Listening back for the first time in years, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart still feels vital. Pardon the pun, but there is a purity to the album and the music. Fragile, melancholic, euphoric and that beautiful raw energy.
Urgent. Fuzzy. Melodic. Perfect. I got properly lost for 34-minutes. This album is a reminder of younger days, simpler times, when music felt like everything. Sometimes, it still does.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart play Stereo in Glasgow on Saturday 15th November. TICKETS HERE
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