The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

I think this was the most anticipated album that I never actually got. I was so excited when I found out about this little indie band from New York. I eagerly looked for their album online, only to be disappointed. This was easily one of the hardest albums to find that I have looked for in a while.

I absolutely love this album. How much of that love is attributed to the great suspense in getting, I'm not sure. However, I do have one major problem with the album. Every song sounds pretty much the same. One the plus side, if you like the first song, you'll like the entire album! And the first song is so likeable, you're bound to enjoy the entire feature presentation, as long as you don't think too much about how the songs blend.

The Contender opens the album well. Introducing the noise-pop sound that sticks with the rest of the album. Come Saturday is, well, very close to the first, but improves slightly. Young Adult Friction continues to improve on the first two, but then when This Love is Fucking Right came on, I was like "THIS IS SO FUCKING RIGHT!" Sorry kids. But it's an incredible song. The rest of the album carries on at a consistent level. Lyrics will, every once and a while, catch you off guard, such as the Teenager in Love line "A teenager in love with Christ and heroin" (sung so sweetly and with such harmony, you would never know what theyre actually talking about!) Hey Paul and Gentle Sons are an okay finish to a great album.

On a scale of five:
Contender - 4
Come Saturday - 4.25
Young Adult Friction - 4.5
This Love Is Fucking Right - 5
The Tenure Itch - 4
Stay Alive - 3
Everything With You - 3.5
Teenager In Love - 4
Hey Paul - 3
Gentle Sons - 2
That's my best track by track. So if we average those up, we get about 3.7, which is pretty close to what I would give the album on a scale of five. I think that I have been a little harsh on the POBPAH, for their album is mysteriously appealing, incredibly harmonized, and fits SO well together. I think by doubling 3.7, we get somewhere around a 7.5, which is definitely what this album deserves.



- Owen