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The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The _Heeb_ Interview

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Bands play twee-pop and get compared to The Pastels, The Wedding Present, and My Bloody Valentine all the time, but for The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, the comparison is legit. The Brooklyn group recently released their self-titled debut LP on Slumberland Records, and have since become indie darlings. I recently spoke with Alex, Peggy and Kip of TPOBPAH to find out more.

Were you guys apprehensive to give yourselves such a long name?

Alex: Not at all! I think it fits us really well.

Peggy: The name was never up for debate. It never occurred to me that it would provoke such a strong reaction from people but I feel like it’s worth it to have a name that actually stands for something.

Kip: Yeah, we were going to change it to "The Soft Pack" but [didn’t].

How pure at heart are the members of the band?

Peggy: I guess after being a band for two years and spending massive amounts of time together in a van, in a recording studio, in our practice space, you kind of figure out if the people you’re with are genuine or not.

Your record label has a pretty extensive discography with a laundry-list of seminal names. Are you intimidated to be counted alongside groups like Stereolab, Lilys and Black Tambourine?

Alex: I think it’s more excitement than intimidation. We’re definitely not trying to compare ourselves to those bands or "live up" to them or anything. We love tons of Slumberland bands, and it’s pretty thrilling to be a part of the continuing Slumberland story.

Peggy: Those are legendary bands. But obviously, Mike [Schulman, label owner] believes in us enough to put out our record, so it’s cool. I never really thought about the fact that we are actually labelmates with Kurt Heasley, but it’s pretty awesome, I guess.

Kip: We’re definitely really really excited about being part of the Slumberland family– especially having Archie Moore (Velocity Girl, Black Tambourine) mix the album. I know we talk about it a lot, but it just was a thrill to see our record with the Slumberland logo on the back when it finally was done. I felt like, that was such a dream come true.

You guys have been getting a lot of comparisons to bands like Pastels, Wedding Present, etc., but are there other influences that might not might be so obvious to the listener?
Alex: Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, The Exploding Hearts, The Manhattan Love Suicides.
Kip: Yeah, I really love Suede and I second Alex on Smashing Pumpkins– Siamese Dream had some seriously epic songs on there.
Are there five records the band can all agree on to listen to while on tour?
Alex: Lemonheads, It’s a Shame About Ray. OMD, Architecture & Morality. Teenage Fanclub, Bandwagonesque. Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream. Errr, I’m sure there are a bunch more.
Peggy: Comet Gain, Realistes.
Okay, be honest, is it really painful…being pure at heart?
Alex: Sometimes. But it’s always worth it.
Peggy: No, it’s pretty fun actually. You should try it!

What do you think?

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