The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (silver nugget vinyl) [SLUMBERLAND]

Why you'll love it

This pressing comes on silver nugget vinyl with a two-sided lyric and credits insert. The debut made the Brooklyn band one of the most talked-about indie pop acts of 2009, with three singles in "Everything with You," "Young Adult Friction" and "Come Saturday."

This edition

• Silver nugget vinyl
• Lyric and credits insert

About the album

The album was nearly called Romantic Friendship, after the intense, not-quite-romance teenage bonds that so many of the songs are about. The band settled on their own name instead, and Kip Berman has admitted he still rather likes the original.

Recorded at Honeyland Studios in Brooklyn, it lands right where indie pop meets dream pop: buzzing guitars, Peggy Wang's keyboards and backing vocals floating through the reverb, and Berman's sweet, breathy voice on top. "Contender" opens in a haze, "The Tenure Itch" and "Stay Alive" race along, and "Gentle Sons" closes things out. Pitchfork caught the mood perfectly, comparing it to early My Bloody Valentine and a John Hughes kind of magic. Overseas, Fortuna Pop! issued it in Europe and Lost & Lonesome in Australia.

The cover photo of two Arizona teenagers came from photographer Kendra Rutledge, who is one of them. Fifteen-odd years on it's still the soundtrack to a library crush, which is exactly the sort of crush this record understands.

Also at Kops: more The Pains of Being Pure at Heart on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Slumberland (cat# SLR 89), a reissue of the 2009 album.