Review:
'PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART, THE / MALE BONDING'
'London, King's Cross, The Scala, 8th December 2009'
- Genre: 'Rock'
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Our Rating:
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A strange trio of bands at The Scala tonight. Allo Darlin open and have a pretty girl with a ukele amd a big smile (which you don't see very often - girl+uke, not girl+smile). They're bouncy, happy and remind me of The Magic Numbers and Dodgy. This is not necessarily a good thing but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt because they have a song called "Henry Rollins Don't Dance" which I really like.
Dalston boys Male Bonding provide the sandwich filling for the evening - and go down badly with most of the audience who are here for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Their booking isn't a reflection of their sound but the promotor's bad judgement. Yet, they're incredible - a band fused with the adrenalin of BMRC and Dick Dale on steriods who totally own the stage. The indie kids don't like it: "My ears hurt!" complains one twee-looking boy to his equally twee-looking GF.
Some would say that the best music is that which divides audiences and elicits debate. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have done that to many people I know. They're rapidly gaining a messaniac following - both critical and amongst 'real' music fans - but to some mid-to-late 30s and early 40s musos they're downright dirty plagiarists of the C86 sound. A friend of mine noted that their recent performance at ATP was a note-perfect copy (aurally and physically) of C86.
I'm sympathetic on this issue: I remember being 14 when the Manic Street Preachers were slated for copying The Clash. At the time, it matter because I didn't grow up with The Clash and they were "old man's music anyway". The best sounds often begin with borrowing. Reference points are no bad thing, placing one in a lineage - you can't reinvent the (musical) wheel. We've covered all bases and there's very little place to go next other than to refine and reinvent what came before.
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Having said that, there is little doubt in anyone's mind that "Contender" is basically a JAMC song, albeit sped up slightly with a more clarified production but elsewhere the C86 comparison disintegrates. For my money, they have more in common with underated 90s Boston band Drop Nineteens than anyone else. Or a supercharged version of The Sundays with a bit of Lloyd Cole and Dandy Warhols thrown in. Hell, I even hear a bit of Slowdive in there too.
And live, they're just incredible The music is bright and tumbles out of them with assurance and energy. There's a wall of sound that bolsters up their songs. "Come Saturday" sounds urgent, massive and vital. "This Love is Fucking Right" gets bodies moving, fringes swaying, heads nodding. Singer Kip Berman might not say much between songs but still manages to maintain a connection with the audience, throwing entire body and soul behind every word and note. My fourteen year-old self would have been converted had he been here tonight. My thirty-three year old self is simply happy to see yet another example of music being healthy and alive as we head into 2010.
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author: Paul Bridgewater (photos by the author)
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The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Male Bonding
Allo Darlin
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