#189
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (Slumberland, 2009)
It was slightly unexpected for this to become the success it was last year, mostly because it seemed like the Slumberland era was long past. Not that the label was any less worthy, but it had seemed to have settled into a comfortable place where it knew its fans and the bands that perfectly fit their sound. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart fit this to a tee, but by incorporating plenty of other pop touchstones they were able to grab a much larger audience than might have been expected. Far from being "just" another indie pop band on a hip underground label, this foursome expertly blended influences as wide-reaching as Phil Spector, New Order, and My Bloody Valentine into their exquisitely crafted pop songs. And that is really what this album is all about, bloody brilliant pop tunes. "Young Adult Friction" was the killer single that launched them into a hundred RSS feeds, but picking a favorite out of this bunch is downright impossible. Right now my answer would surely be "A Teenager In Love" with its immediacy and timeless feel, particularly in how the acoustic strumming marks a change in pace from the more shoegazey parts of the album. Really though, each and every song is packed with little bits that will make you "ooh" and "ahh", and I could have made arguments here for every single one of the ten tracks.
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