The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: ‘My Terrible Friend’

We met up with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart ahead of their Manchester show at The Ruby Lounge to film this acoustic performance of new album track ‘My Terrible Friend’

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are an indie pop band from New York City. The band comprises singer and guitarist Kip Berman, drummer Kurt Feldman, Alex Naidus on bass, and Peggy Wang on keyboard and vocals. In late 2009, Christoph Hochheim joined the band as a live member. When Hochheim departed in late 2011, Connor Hanwick (of The Drums) replaced him in January 2012.

Their first album was a self-released EP, released in 2007. The release was distributed by Painbow – a record label created by the band. Their debut self-titled full-length album was released on February 3, 2009 via Slumberland Records, a personal favorite label of the band’s. Their name comes from an unpublished children’s story of the same title. A friend of Kip Berman wrote the story, which revolves around “realising what matters most in life – things like friendship and having a good time”. The group’s self-titled album peaked at number nine on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. In 2009, they released Higher Than the Stars, their second EP. The band’s second record, entitled Belong, was released in 2011.