Review: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

Review: Aisling O’Brien
Photos: Kieran Frost

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart opened their first European headline tour in The Button Factory on Wednesday.  Last time these guys were in town was December 2008 supporting Wedding Present. This was my first time seeing them play and I was more than a little excited.

A slight delay added to the buzzing anticipation ringing through the venue, with encouraging hollers from a hipster or two. Opening with the title track from this years album ‘Belong’, followed by ‘This Love Is Fucking Right’ and ‘A Teenager In Love’. The crowd are bopping along to the poppy beats that when mixed with angsty lyrics wouldn’t go amiss in a 1980’s teen flick.

Lead singer Kip Berman apologises for not talking much “we don’t wanna seduce you with our American charm!”. Already smitten with the TPOBPAH, songs like ‘Heart in Your Heartbreak’ and ‘Young Adult Friction’ only encourage my crush, as they seem very sweet and sincere.

Kip tells the crowd that they haven’t tried the Obama burger yet. People that don’t follow their photo blog may have been a bit lost as it was in relation to a picture they put up of the Obama burger from Supermacs. Slightly tongue in cheek, Kip also says “We’re not here to trace our ancestors, we just wanna play some rock’n’roll.’  This conjures laughter from the audience. Before playing the last song of the set ‘Strange’, they dedicate the song  to the girls who’s house they stayed in last time in Dublin.

Kip is first back on stage for the encore and performs ‘Contender’. ‘Girl of 1000 Dreams’ and ‘Everything With You’ finish off the set.
This was a really great gig, if they do come back touring or are added to any festival line ups (which is looking unlikely, but live in hope),  make sure to get yourself down to see them.

I heart The Pains of Being Pure at Heart!