Mixtape #36: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

New York foursome The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have just finished their biggest UK tour to date. Before they returned to the States, DiS caught up with singer/guitarist Kip Berman, keyboard player Peggy Wong and bassist Alex Naidus to find out what songs keep them occupied and inspired...

1. Teenage Fanclub - Star Sign
Kip: I love 'Bandwagonesque' and to be honest, its difficult to choose a favourite one off that record but this one just shades it for me. They're a band who never got anywhere near as much recognition in the States as they should have done.

2. Ash - Girl From Mars
Kip: It's just such an endearing song. In some ways our own song 'Everything With You' could be based on this.

3. Rodriguez - Cold Fact
Alex: Can I be greedy and go for a whole album? OK, well I'm gonna go for this by Rodriguez. He put this out in 1970 on a really small record label and no one bought it so ended up working in construction, and then as time went by he somehow got really big in South Africa and New Zealand and twenty years later some of his fans went on a mission to find him and they persuaded him to tour again and in 1991 the album was re-issued and I've listened to it so many times.

4. Kicking Giant - Fuck The Rules
Peggy: When I was in 8th grade, there was a guy that I used to exchange records with and he sent me this mixtape one time and this was the first song on it.

5. Versus - Big Head On
Peggy: I got talking to someone after our show in Leeds the other week about this band and it just reminded of how much this song means to me really.

6. The Ecstasy Of St Theresa - What's
Peggy: I always pick this song when I'm talking about this band and again, whenever I'm compiling a mixtape for any of my friends this is one that always ends up on there somewhere.

7. Yo La Tengo - Tom Courtenay
Kip: I love their early stuff so much. In fact, its so hard to choose any one song of theirs in particular but I'm gonna go with this. 'Electr-O-Pura' is my favourite album of theirs and this really sums that record up for me.

8. Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus
Kip: I remember when me and Alex used to work together we'd put on their record every day at 5pm, on the dot! I really don't know what my favourite Titus Andronicus song is but I really like bands to have a song named after themselves; we have a song called 'The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart' so I'm going for this.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart release their self-titled debut album through Fortuna Pop! Records in February 2009.