The self titled debut EP from New York's Pains of Being Pure at Heart was just a little too slick to be a true facsimile of the fuzzy D.I.Y. C86 sound it resembled. So it's encouraging that the band's new single just ups the snappy pop and loses the crackle all together. "Teenager in Love" would have sounded perfect coming from a blatantly lip-syncing band playing the improbably elaborate prom of star-crossed John Hughes movie protagonists. Its gentle romantic melancholy will remind you of about 400 other songs, maybe, but no bad ones. It's slight, but timeless.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart »
