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Dec 29, 2015 Web Exclusive By Matthew Berlyant

Since forming in 2007, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have released three full-length albums along with a series of 7” singles and EPs. While the albums are all very good to excellent, they tend to try out ideas that would be otherwise out of place on their EPs and occasionally that leaves weaker material. Unfortunately, this brand new EP is no exception. The title track is an obvious homage to Polydor-era Orange Juice. On paper, this sounds excellent given that Orange Juice are arguably a stylistic forerunner to the kind of indie-pop worshipped by this band, but the production (especially the clunky drum machine) is all wrong and atypically, the tune isn’t up to Kip Berman’s usual standards. Thankfully, things get much better with the two covers included here, a relatively straightforward reading of Felt’s “Ballad of the Band” and the minor James hit “Laid,” perhaps most well-known to American audiences from being used in the movie American Pie. On the latter cover, Jen Goma (on loan from A Sunny Day in Glasgow since last year’s Days of Abandon and also a touring member) absolutely nails it and her turn is the EP’s clear highlight. It’s so good, in fact, that it makes one long for more vocal turns from her on subsequent material. (www.thepainsofbeingpureatheart.com)

Author rating: 5.5/10