Formed in New York, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart initially adhered to indie pop conventions by blending heartfelt, catchy tunes with distorted, anxious guitar textures. Principal songwriter Kip Berman set the group apart through his gift for weaving intricate melodies and deeply felt lyrics, guiding their shift from raw noise-pop roots to polished, arena-scale sonics on the 2017 fourth album The Echo of Pleasure.
The quartet came together in 2007 when New York-based musicians Alex Naidus on bass, Kip Berman on guitar and vocals, Kurt Feldman on drums, and Peggy Wang on keyboards and vocals launched the project. Early efforts remained intimate, drawing on the hazy textures of My Bloody Valentine and Black Tambourine to shape concise tracks. Their debut performance occurred at a private birthday celebration for Wang, where five songs were delivered over a pre-recorded drum backing. Those initial compositions first appeared on a self-titled CD-R issued by Cloudberry Records, soon followed by a self-titled EP on the band's own Painbow label. Throughout 2008 the group issued several limited split singles via Atomic Beat Records and Slumberland. Their debut full-length, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, arrived on Slumberland in February 2009; strong critical response and media exposure, including an appearance on Late Night with Carson Daly, positioned them among the most discussed acts of that spring.
Following the summer 2010 release of the single Say No to Love, producers Flood and Alan Moulder were enlisted to refine the sound. The resulting album Belong appeared on Slumberland in March 2011. Once touring for the second record concluded, Berman began composing material for the next project back in the United States. After Wang and Naidus departed, a new configuration including Jen Goma of A Sunny Day in Glasgow and brass player Kelly Pratt alongside Feldman entered the studio with Andy Savours to capture Days of Abandon, issued in 2014 on Yebo Music.
Savours returned to helm the subsequent record, on which Berman performed the majority of the instrumental parts while Goma supplied vocals on numerous tracks and touring bassist Jacob Danish Sloan contributed as well. Drawing heavily from 1980s new wave and pop, the album explored themes tied to Berman's approaching fatherhood. The Echo of Pleasure was released by Painbow Records in September 2017. In November 2019 Berman declared the band had ended. He has since continued issuing solo material under the Natvral name he adopted shortly before the group's dissolution.
