Album Review

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Say No To Love

• 21st Jun 2010

End of year lists are a great thing for a band. Get on one and before you know it, word of your band gets around faster than Usain Bolt on an running track. Sure enough, the big thing recently hasn’t been the re-invention of music genres or breaking musical boundaries but more of bringing a nostalgic feel back. I mean, take a look at the Drums and where they are now. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart seem to be another band that are bringing the same cards to the tablek. After much praise from the NME and Pitchfork for their debut album, is the bands latest single worth it?

‘Say No To Love’ is a song that ticks all the boxes for all indie hipsters. It has all the influences right whilst being the perfect summer indie pop soundtrack. It’s as if the Smiths made love to Peter, Bjorn and John whilst having a hint of Los Campesino’s on the side. There’s a hint of romance and passion courtesy of Kip Berman’s lustful vocals whilst the jangly and melodic guitars add a new dimension to it all.

In singer Kip’s words,’a perfect summertime single full of fuzz and feelings.’ That’s certainly true as all the layers added together create a beautiful sense of summer but it doesn’t stick at one extreme. ‘Say No To Love’ is a perfectly balanced summer soundtrack.

8/10