Unbeknownst to the rest of New York, it was 1992 all over again in Webster Hall on Saturday night. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, arriving home after a month-long tour of the U.S., treated the hometown crowd to an hour of nostalgic indie pop inside one of the city’s most historic venues. The band, riding a wave of success in support of their debut record, appealed equally to the heyday of UK shoegaze and a decidedly American strain of fuzzed-out sentimentality.

Following opening sets from Cymbals Eat Guitars and The Depreciation Guild, The Pains took the stage at the early hour of 9pm. Devoid of any and all pretense, the band wasted no time opening its set with two of the stronger songs from its self-titled breakout album. ”This Love is Fucking Right” and “Young Adult Friction”, perhaps the group’s most readily accessible single, set heads nodding throughout the packed floor. Lead singer/guitarist Kip Berman, a decidedly bookish frontman, traded fitting boy-girl harmonies with keyboardist Peggy Wang, invoking the angst and awkward romance imprinted in the group’s songs.

Although the band’s washed-out distortion can drag on some of its more nondescript offerings, “Higher Than the Stars”, a stand-out track from the recently released EP of the same name, proved that The Pains are just as comfortable exploring the boundaries of dreamy synth-pop. This mid-set flirtation with New Wave was only a brief change of pace, however, as the band closed out its homecoming show with a return to the sound that brought a wealth of critical praise over the past year. Unique in its current context, The Pains jangly fuzz nonetheless pays homage to a host of obscure bands from decades past, most notably Slumberland predecessors Black Tambourine.  Seemingly comfortable with these comparisons, The Pains seem concerned with only one thing- creating infectious pop songs that measure up equally in any era.  Click “Read More” for Dossier’s interview with Kip Berman. Read More »