On Repeat: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

This Valentine’s Day, the handsome androids known as the Jonas Brothers tried to win our affection with a spirited performance on Saturday Night Live. Good try, young dudes, but our official V Day soundtrack was determined weeks in advance. Few bands out there embody the thumping of the ol’ cardiac organ like the Pains of Being Pure at Heart (image at right courtesy of Gustavo Pedrosa), and we knew from the first chord that the band’s blissed-out tunes would perfectly complement an exchange of exotic chocolates and glitter-dusted Hallmark cards.

The NYC foursome makes high-energy pop music using strategies that are far from groundbreaking—you’ve got your walls of jangly guitar, your relentlessly pounding drums, and your boy/girl singers who pass sweet melodies back and forth like conversation hearts during study hall. But the group nails this tried-and-true approach with such conviction that we can’t help but be a little infatuated.

Imagine the instant catchiness of the Ramones adorned with the feedbacky atmospherics of My Bloody Valentine and you start to understand the appeal. Listening to “Come Saturday,” “Stay Alive,” and the cheekily titled “Young Adult Friction” conjures the feeling you get on the first day of summer after a way-too-long school year: You’re finally free, the nights are warm, and your new crush has started to crush back.

Although the band is largely an underground sensation, you can pick up its debut album, self-titled EP, and handful of singles (one charmingly named “Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan”) without too much digging. And while the Pains may have a frustratingly small catalog, they don’t have a single bad song. Which is more than we can say for the J Bros.

What was the soundtrack to your Valentine’s Day?