Heroes of Switzerland - Madame Jojo's, London, 9/6/2009

  by Anthony Strutt

published: 24 / 6 / 2009

intro

At Madame Jojo's in London, Anthony Strutt watches much acclaimed New York-based indie pop band, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, play an upbeat and surprisingly raucous set of guitar pop/rock

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart come from Brooklyn in New York and are currently the Fortuna Pop label’s biggest band. Tonight they are playing a sweaty little Goth/transvestite bar in a basement in Soho. The place is too small for them, and, as I only have one 7 inch single by the band, I'm not sure what to expect from them. I, however, trust label boss Sean Price’s judgement. The opening band is the Pocketbooks, a very twee outfit. They are followed by Betty and the Werewolves, who are three mod-dressed girls whom jump up and down a lot and make a punky rack of the best sort. They sing songs about David Cassidy and release them as singles. The guitarist also destroys five strings on her guitar in just a few songs. Sweet! The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have got a lot tighter than when they first came here about eighteen months ago. The music played tonight is more of a celebration of life itself, rather than just being a gig. On record they are quite twee, but they play music tonight to bob your head to. There is even some moshing going on as they play to a more than full sold-out crowd with the mission of making every member of the audience leave with a smiling face which they do. This is guitar rock of the finest order. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have the jangle of the Smiths, the cool of Americana and the twee of Belle and Sebastian.

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