The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Brooklyn noise pop

Kip Berman, Peggy Wang and Alex Naidus formed the band in New York in 2007, with Kurt Feldman joining later on drums. Berman grew up in Philadelphia, lived in Portland, Oregon, finished college at Reed and moved to New York, where he met Naidus. The name comes from an unpublished children's story by a friend, Charles Augustus Steen III. The first show was at Wang's birthday party, five songs in ten minutes. When the debut came out, Wang worked full time at BuzzFeed, Naidus edited for eMusic's Canadian site and Feldman taught music to children; Berman cited Beat Happening and Belle and Sebastian among his influences. The self-released EP came out on Painbow on August 7, 2007.

The debut album (February 3, 2009, Slumberland) was recorded in 2008 at Honeyland in Brooklyn, with Archie Moore engineering and mixing, and reached 37 on the US independent chart. Higher Than the Stars EP followed on September 22, 2009. Belong (March 29, 2011) was produced by Flood and reached 92 on the Billboard 200. Wang and Naidus left in 2013 and Feldman left to focus on production. Days of Abandon (May 13, 2014, Yebo Music) reached 168 on the Billboard 200, and the Hell EP (2015) and The Echo of Pleasure (September 1, 2017) followed; they also covered all of Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever for Turntable Kitchen. The last show was on April 26, 2018, and Berman announced the breakup on November 4, 2019, afterward working as the Natvral.

A reunion was announced on August 16, 2024 for the debut's 15th anniversary. The Spain and Portugal dates in February 2025 and a surprise New York show on February 17, 2025 were the first with Wang and Feldman since 2012, and Naidus returned as the tour expanded to North America and the UK. Perfect Right Now: A Slumberland Collection 2008-2010 came out in February 2025. Setlist.fm lists 565 setlists including a September 19, 2026 show at the Brooklyn Paramount.