The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
November 19 @ 7:30 pm - 10:45 pm
£25
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart + Guests
7:30pm Weds 19th November, Bedford Esquires
Roughly five years after breaking up, New York’s indie shoegazey/dream-popppers the Pains of being Pure at Heart have announced a reunion tour celebrating the 15th year anniversary of their self-titled debut LP. Ok, it will actually be 16 years by then, but… The Pains of Being Bad at Math!
Peggy, Kurt, Christoph, and Kip will be back on stage together for the first time since 2012. Alex is attending to (very good) personal things and can’t be with them this time, so Eddy Marshall, who plays with Kip in The Natvral, will join on bass for the tour. Pobpah be performing their self-titled album in its entirety— and a few other songs from that era too.
In late 2007, The Pains started a Myspace page to showcase their songs. Berman noted that at the time, the band name was all the group had. The name comes from the title of an unpublished children’s story by Charles Augustus Steen III (a friend of Berman’s), which revolves around “realising what matters most in life – things like friendship and having a good time”. The trio began working on numerous tracks. Songs such as “Contender”, “Come Saturday”, and “This Love Is Fucking Right!” would stay band favorites, winding up on the 2009 album The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Other tracks, such as “Orchard of My Eye”, would be released on their first EP.
After numerous shows around New York, the trio recruited Berman’s roommate Kurt Feldman as drummer. After playing more shows, both in and outside of the US the band recorded their inaugural LP. Their first self-released EP came out in 2007 on Painbow, a label created by the band. Their debut self-titled full-length album was released on February 3, 2009, via Slumberland Records, a favorite label of the band’s. The album peaked at number nine on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. In 2009, they released Higher Than the Stars, their second EP.
The band’s second album, entitled Belong, was released in 2011. It represented their commercial peak, reaching number 92 on the Billboard 200. It also charted worldwide, reaching the top 100 in Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
Tickets cost £25 in advance from SEE, Slide and Esquires.