The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: Academy 2 

By Michael Doherty

It must be great being in this band. Their debut self-titled album has been out for a good ten months now, and soon gained a ton of critical praise for its incessant sense of pop and fuzzy guitars; it’s like the best love-tragic 80s pop mixed with a light grunge guitar venom, distilled and repackaged for today.

Not only have they won over the critics, they’ve got a small but doting fan base that has committed every word of the album to memory, some of whom are here tonight.

Like the band, these fans are a timid bunch. They’re not screaming, shouting or swan-diving into the crowd to show their love for the New York quartet; they’re standing at the side or in a dark corner, ever so fearful that they’ll embarrass themselves by being caught singing along. They are the teenagers in love they talk about.

Tonight they’re joined onstage by guitarist Christoph Hochheim of support act ‘Deprecation Guild’, who steps up to add to the already thick layer of harmonised distortion. ‘Come Saturday’ and ‘Young Adult Friction’ are clear crowd favorites, even those shy ones hiding in the corners take a second to cheer for them. We’re also treated to a heap of new songs which are as hook laden as their current ones if not more so. Catch them now whilst they’re brilliant; just don’t be shy about it.