It’s been about five years since Brooklyn indie-pop greats the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart announced their breakup. By the end, frontman Kip Berman was the band’s only constant member, and he’s the only person in the press photos for their final album, 2017’s The Echo Of Pleasure. Since the band ended, Berman — and before then, for that matter — has been making music with his solo project the Natvral. But now, the Pains Of Pure At Heart are back together, and they’re celebrating the 15th anniversary of their self-titled debut with a European tour.
The Pains Of Pure At Heart came out in February 2009 on Slumberland, and the band will celebrate the first anniversary of that 15th anniversary with a series of shows in Spain and Portugal early next year. (In the Instagram post where they announce the reunion, they write, “Yeah, we know it’ll actually be 16 years by then, but… The Pains of Being Bad at Math.) The lineup of Peggy Wang, Kurt Feldman, and Christoph Hochheim will join Berman. Original member Alex Naidus couldn’t take part, but the Natvral’s Eddy Marshall will fill in on bass. At those shows, the band will play the full self-titled album, as well as other songs “from that era.” Kip Berman isn’t sure whether the reunion will keep going after that, but fingers crossed.
These will be the first Pains Of Being Heart shows since they played our fearless leader Scott Lapatine’s 40th birthday party at the Brooklyn venue Baby’s All Right in 2018. At that show, Peggy Wang rejoined the band for a few songs, and it was her first time doing that in years. Below, check out the band’s announcement and tour dates.
TOUR DATES:
2/19 – Porto, Portugal @ Hotel Mouco
2/20 – A Coruña, Spain @ Garufa Club
2/21 – Oviedo, Spain @ Kiuvi Pop Up
2/22 – Tarragona, Spain @ Sala Zero
2/23 – Madrid, Spain @ Lula Club
2/24 – Sevilla, Spain @ Sala X
2/26 – Murcia, Spain @ Sala Rem
2/27 – València, Spain @ 16 Toneladas
2/28 – Barcelona, Spain @ Razzmatazz 2
3/01 – Zaragoza, Spain @ Espacio Las Armas
3/02 – Donostia-san Sebastián, Spain @ Dabadaba