The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are calling it a day! Whatever SoundCloud rapper playing around with J-pop ideas or weirdo electronic texture lover captures my attention, indie-pop is always going to be foundational for me (can’t shake those teenage years!) and this was a group hitting on that feeling even as adolescence zoomed out of view. They also are up there with The Drums and Mac DeMarco as having this huge impact on the Japanese indie community. Indie-pop has never been lacking in the country — like shoegaze, it will never vanish from the musical DNA here — but The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart offered an entry point for a new generation of kids looking to make rock with a tender side.
Nagoya group Belinda May cite them as a major influence, and “Everyday In Love” makes that reference point all the more clear. It’s a jaunty number skipping ahead and peppered by melancholy lyrics that never tip into pure sadness but hide something complicated. That’s not exclusive to The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, but “Everyday In Love” does feature plenty of connecting tissue to that group, and serves as a reminder that their influence will carry on going forward. Listen above.