For the record

Author: Alex Blair

I'm waiting for the day when noise pop breaks into the mainstream. It's going to happen. I can see it now. Miley Cyrus will pick up an electric guitar, plug it into a massive amp, and blow the heads off a bunch of screaming eight-year-olds with her roaring feedback (the Jonas Brothers will have no choice but to follow suit). Unfortunately, we're not there yet (not even close), but with The Pains of Being Pure At Heart's self-titled debut, we're moving a little more in that direction. It's an album packed with layers of fuzzy guitars and enough catchy melodies to make fans out of people who have never even heard of The Jesus and Mary Chain or My Bloody Valentine. And, like the great albums of the forefathers of noise pop, "The Pains of Being Pure At Heart" is meant to be played loud. Very loud.

Besides the obvious influences of shoegaze on the album, this New York City indie band draws on a number of other sources from the '80s and '90s music scene, creating a rather eclectic mix. There are elements of jangle pop, which hearken back to early R.E.M. and the Smiths, and Kip Berman's vocals sound like a combination of Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian and Dean Wareham of Galxie 500. Although The Pains of Being Pure At Heart wear their influences on their sleeve, their sound comes off fresh and exciting when compared with all the other "music" that is released today. "Come Saturday" balances hard rocking guitars with gentle vocal harmonies while "Stay Alive" melds chiming arpeggios with distortion. In both songs, as on every track, there is a constant droning in the background, which puts the noise in noise pop.

Lyrically, the album is as dark and shocking as anything I have heard in recent years. The incestuous "This Love Is F***ing Right!" describes a secret affair with a sibling: "In a dark room we can do just as we like/You're my sister, and this love is f***ing right!" Awesome. When Katy Perry notoriously declared that she kissed a girl and, God forbid, liked it, everyone was in an uproar. Berman blows Katy out of the water; he has no problem singing about getting it on with his sister. "A Teenager In Love" is about a teen who experienced a fatal drug overdose. There have been countless songs written about this subject, but The Pains of Being Pure At Heart put a new twist on it with a unique juxtaposition of words: "The way you lived your final days/A teenager in love with Christ and heroin." How many times have you heard Christ and heroin in the same sentence? I've only heard it about three times in my life. The entire album is full of sardonic lines like that, making "The Pains of Being Pure At Heart" a lyrical gem.

My one complaint is that there are not enough guitar solos. "Everything With You," arguably the album's best track, has a killer solo that somehow finds the fine line between shredding and gorgeously melodic. Unfortunately, that's about it as far as solos are concerned, but it's a minor quibble. Everything else on this album works perfectly. Even if you're not into loud, ear-piercing distortion, you should still check out "The Pains of Being Pure At Heart." At its core, with its infectious melodies, it's a pop album. A great one, at that.