Anyone who reads or writes album reviews knows the following terms; the ‘difficult’ second album, the sophomore slump, the disappointing follow-up to a cracking debut. Anyone who listens to the Belong, the second album by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, will know that these terms are definitely not applicable here. Singer and guitarist Kip Berman hits the nail on the head when he says that he sees Belong “as keeping with what we started doing at the beginning, only more; more immediate, more noisy, more beautiful...Compared to the last record, it’s far more visceral, more vital, more of the body. It’s about feeling, not feelings.” The first album, while an instantly likeable indie-pop record, just shied away from being something very special by hiding beneath layers of reverb, fuzz and distortion. Belong hides nothing.
Everything is more pronounced and while Kip Berman’s vocals still sound like the aural equivalent of a soft focus photograph, you feel able to belt out the chorus to Belong as it affirms “in your eyes, in the sun, we just don’t belong,” to music that is both powerful and melodic; the rhythm section of Kurt Feldman and Alex Naidus sound massive without being overpowering and the next couple of tracks manage to maintain the momentum without overdoing it. Heavens Gonna Happen Now sounds more like something from the self-titled debut with the fuzzed out guitars and boy/girl vocals. However, it also serves to highlight the fact that the songwriting is so much stronger and the production (more than ably handed by legendary producer Flood) of an infinitely higher quality throughout the album. The Body is a dance-pop track that showcases Peggy Wang’s exquisite synth-tastic contribution to the album’s sound and is accompanied by a pulsing drumbeat that sounds like it was lifted straight out of your local ‘discotheque’ from the 1980s. Berman’s seductive vocals pleading with the addressee to "tell me again what the body’s for, cause I can’t feel it anymore, I lost mine and I need yours," ensures that this track will end up on many a hopeful mixtape given by doe-eyed indie kids. Anne With an E is a slow-dance that sounds like a specific homage to The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Just Like Honey, right down to the tambourines and is the only point on the album where The Pains of Being Pure at Heart revert to mimicking the bands they grew up admiring.
However, Even in Dreams really brings home what The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are all about; the limitless possibilities of pop music. This is another fist pumping, belt it out, driving at night with the radio up loud anthem of a song; "EVEN IN DREAMS, I DID NOT BEETRAY YOOOOOOU!!" Brilliant. My Terrible Friend is a fuzzy power-pop track and Too Tough brings Peggy Wang’s synths back to the front creating a track that just sounds like summer. The whole thing comes to a close with Strange with its refrain of “...dreams can still come true...” which manages to avoid sounding trite and helps to see the affecting sincerity, which the band weave throughout the album, across the finish line.
And then it’s all over. So you go back to the beginning and listen to it again and again and again because that’s just what you do with albums that are this good.
Belong is out on the 28th of March via Fortuna Pop!
LD
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