Artist: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Album: Higher Than The Stars EP
Year: 2009
Grade: 3 pretzels
Animal Collective aren’t the only band topping off a very successful year with an EP full of new material. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart were arguable the strongest “rookie band” this year and are already appearing on critics’ end-of-the-year lists. Their self-titled debut was a remarkably upbeat and enjoyable album, reminding cynical listeners (such as, say, myself) that blissful, youthful and joyous music can still be pretty damn awesome.
The sad part about the Higher Than The Stars EP is that it doesn’t maintain the sunny, rolling momentum of the debut album. The opening title track sounds like a slightly stale reimagining of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979”, with its dreamy keyboards and wistful melody. The fuzz-soaked guitar roar is sadly absent, rendering the song somewhat toothless and dull. It’s certainly quite pretty, but it doesn’t stick in your mind once it’s over.
The EP’s best songs are tracks two and three, “103” and “Falling Over”. The former finally brings the guitars back, with chords crashing all around and Kip Berman vocals picking up some nice power and confidence. “Falling Over” recalls the Scottish Postcard Records sound, from its Orange-Juice-baiting title on down. The guitars jangle and Berman sings a suitably fey chorus of “don’t you, don’t you touch me, just be cool.” “Falling Over” is particularly encouraging, since there’s nothing like it on the Pains’ debut. My persistent fears that this band would turn out to be a one-trick pony may have been unfounded…
Ah, but then “Twins” shows up and the Pains go back to sounding unmemorable. The chorus’ sentiment of “everything good is gone” is sadly way too close to what I, as the listener, was thinking. Despite having all the expect elements of a good Pains song in place, the end result just sounds hastily thrown together and half-hearted. Higher Than The Stars also ends on a very odd note, with a radical remix of the title track, subtitled the “Saint Etienne Visits Lord Spank Mix”. Upending the band’s usual exuberant guitars and propulsive energy, this mix stretches the song out to almost seven minutes and builds around a hypnotic set of keyboard lines and a club-ready dance beat. The end result it something that really accentuates the ground’s boy/girl harmonies and wistful yearnings. It’s an unusual, unrepresentative, but not unenjoyable end to an EP that repeatedly has the listener wondering just where this band can and will go next.
The sad part about the Higher Than The Stars EP is that it doesn’t maintain the sunny, rolling momentum of the debut album. The opening title track sounds like a slightly stale reimagining of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979”, with its dreamy keyboards and wistful melody. The fuzz-soaked guitar roar is sadly absent, rendering the song somewhat toothless and dull. It’s certainly quite pretty, but it doesn’t stick in your mind once it’s over.
The EP’s best songs are tracks two and three, “103” and “Falling Over”. The former finally brings the guitars back, with chords crashing all around and Kip Berman vocals picking up some nice power and confidence. “Falling Over” recalls the Scottish Postcard Records sound, from its Orange-Juice-baiting title on down. The guitars jangle and Berman sings a suitably fey chorus of “don’t you, don’t you touch me, just be cool.” “Falling Over” is particularly encouraging, since there’s nothing like it on the Pains’ debut. My persistent fears that this band would turn out to be a one-trick pony may have been unfounded…
Ah, but then “Twins” shows up and the Pains go back to sounding unmemorable. The chorus’ sentiment of “everything good is gone” is sadly way too close to what I, as the listener, was thinking. Despite having all the expect elements of a good Pains song in place, the end result just sounds hastily thrown together and half-hearted. Higher Than The Stars also ends on a very odd note, with a radical remix of the title track, subtitled the “Saint Etienne Visits Lord Spank Mix”. Upending the band’s usual exuberant guitars and propulsive energy, this mix stretches the song out to almost seven minutes and builds around a hypnotic set of keyboard lines and a club-ready dance beat. The end result it something that really accentuates the ground’s boy/girl harmonies and wistful yearnings. It’s an unusual, unrepresentative, but not unenjoyable end to an EP that repeatedly has the listener wondering just where this band can and will go next.
No comments:
Post a Comment