The last we heard from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, on Days of Abandon, they had dived steadfastly into their ‘80s phase. A typical YouTube comment for their single “Kelly” reads, “This song is so The Smiths!”
Their new single “Hell” picks up where the band left off. It begins with a clapping drumbeat and a jangly guitar riff of a sophisti-pop group John Hughes would have caught on a late night MTV block. A funky bass kicks in and then Kip Berman’s vocals, which fittingly sound like Orange Juice’s Edwyn Collins’.
Lyrically Berman described the song as being about “how insufferable performances of sensitivity are when there’s a good song playing and someone you want to dance with.” “Hell” is lively, buoyed by strings and horns, so quit being coy and grab a partner.
“Hell” is the title-track of a three-song EP to be released by the band’s own Painbow Records. You can stream it below.
