Monday, March 15, 2010
Review by Alejandra Olmedo
New York City based band, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, comprised of Kip Berkman on vocals and guitar, bassist Alex Naidus, drummer Kurt Feldman, and Peggy Wang on keyboard and vocals, was meant to be a one-time gig for Wang’s birthday party. However, with their 2009 self titled release they garnered online hype. Which lead to rave reviews from the difficult to please hipster website, Pitchfork, NME and Rolling Stone magazine. POBPAH ‘s self titled album was released from Oakland, Ca based record label, Slumberland Records. Slumberland is known for releasing albums from notable artists like Black Tambourine, Velocity Girl, Stereolab, and the Softies.
Often this four piece band, draws comparisons to My Bloody Valentine, fellow label mates Black Tambourine, the Field Mice and Vivian Girls. Their brand of shoegaze, twee and indie pop characterizes their feel good sound. Kip Berkman’s vocals are reministic to that of Bobby Wratten, vocalist from the much loved the Field Mice. Meanwhile, Peggy, bassist and vocalist, adds another dimension of to the vocals with her sweet and whispery backup vocals during the chorus of the song.
Although, Young Adult Fiction sounds like an innocent song with its catchy indie pop sound, the lyrics could not be so far from this. The entire song is a metaphor for a sexual encounter between a girl and boy in a library! With lyrics like “We came they went, out bodies spent” clearly imply the not-so-innocent content of the song. However, POBPAH approach the metaphor in a silly manner with such humorous lyrics like “I never thought I would come of age. Let alone on a moldy page.” The repetition of the lyrics “Don’t check me out” is a fantastic way to end a song catchy little ditty about a coming of age story in an unlikely setting.
Buy at
iTunes Music StoreYoung Adult Friction (mp3)