In a New York where the Real World is filming in Red Hook and even my mom shops at American Apparel, I feel it's time to put away my skinny jeans and abandon my asymmetrical haircut.
I'm suddenly craving sincerity.
Thankfully, there's hope: Meet my new music obsession, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, who will remind you of your favorite local band back in high school-albeit more talented.
When I ask Kip Berman of the Brooklyn four-piece to describe their sound, he tells me that they make "music for teenagers who don't run away...
or if they do run away, it's not far.
They go to the park at midnight with their only friend, or meet up with the local goths to smoke pot and listen to KMFDM.
" Peggy Wang, their keyboardist, adds that most of their song ideas from their old Livejournal entries.
Bassist Alex Naidus says that the group relies a lot on the chords E, A and B, and Kurt Feldman, a self-described "hate storm" on drums, sites the machine that preceded him as a major musical influence.
Translation: This is a band of smart asses.
Extremely likable, please-play-at-my-house-party, smart asses.
Their cutesy moniker, which Alex explains is "on semi-permanent loan from an unpublished children's book," sums up the nascent foursome's genuine, feel-good brand of noisy indie pop.
"Well, I'm not sure if 'the pains of being pure at heart' is quite as uncomfortable as being a boy with a thorn in your side or having an exploding heart," quips Kip.
"But we do get a lot of angina ads and biblical quotes if you Google our name.
We want our music to make you feel-good or otherwise.
" Peggy interjects: "Yeah, or feel good about feeling bad about yourself.
" When I ask what's next aside from regular gigs at Cake Shop ("It's like our twee fort," Kip explains), I discover that they're headed overseas this fall and have a full-length album due out in January on Slumberland Records.
They're also dressing as the Smashing Pumpkins for Halloween, with Peggy as James Iha and Kurt as "the guy that died from doing too many drugs...
" [Editor's note: Jimmy Chamberlin didn't die, he just got in a heap of trouble.
] Longevity be damned, according to Alex, right now they're more concerned with having fun: "We all really just like the music and we're having the best time of our lives-and that's way more cool then being 'cool'.
" Which proves that their bark is worse than their bite.
In the end, the only pains you'll experience because of POFBPAH are moot-a hoarse throat, sore feet and ringing eardrums-the kind that are always well worth it.