Belong

iTunes Review

From Belong’s anthemic title track onwards, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart deliver a confident sophomore album filled with arresting melodies and awash in glorious noise. Part of the credit goes to co-producers Flood (of Smashing Pumpkins renown) and Alan Moulder (My Bloody Valentine and Ride, among others), who give the New York quartet the sort of arena-shaking sound they deserve. Happily, the band is ready for this sort of widescreen treatment, offering a batch of taut, relentless rockers and dreamy ballads made to be played with enraptured fury. Kip Berman’s wistful vocals hover over massed guitar feedback and thick, panting bass, bringing out the longing buried within “Even In Dreams,” “Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now” and “Heart In Your Heartbreak.” Peggy Wong-East’s surging synthesizers coat “My Terrible Friend” with a bright neon glaze; the echo-bathed “Anne With an E” achieves a Spectorian melancholy grandeur. Somehow, the Pains manage to do it all with disarming humility, as if they were still unknowns thrashing away in garageland obscurity.