the pains of being pure at heart – “my terrible friend (washed out remix)”
by jared silva
02.28.12
New York retro-styled indie pop band and winner of most creative band name, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, are releasing a new remix EP titled Acid Reflex for this year’s Record Store Day. The collection of 4 tracks are all remixes from their 2011 troubled teen anthem sophomore album, Belong. The tracklist includes remixes from Twin Shadows, Violens, St. Etineen, and one of the rising acts leading the newly trending “chillwave” genre, Washed Out, remixing the track “My Terrible Friend.”
On the original version of the track, The Pains flourished in their starry sounds with a mix of twee pop melodies ripped right out of the 80s and a shoegaze element from the My Bloody Valentine era. Tinging synths go blazing and the powerful snares snap hard, making the song seem larger-than-life fit for a stadium. On this remixed version, all that seems to go away and chill way the hell out. In perfect Washed Out form, the song’s atmosphere is extraordinarily mellow, which pretty much defines the dazed chillwave sound he’s known for. The fuzzed out guitars are replaced with a simple acoustic guitar meshed in the background of the airy syths, reversed pipe sounds, and a single tin bell continually repeating. While the shoegazing textures from the original song combined all the elements and blended them together with an upbeat melody, here we have a sound closer to that of a hollow chamber, with every piece of the song echoing fluently together. Only two of the original verses were put into the mix, while the rest of the song afterwards just goes on in a more ambient fashion. It very much sounds like a Washed Out song featuring the lead singer from The Pains, Kip Berman. The remix could be seen a compliment showing how well the two artists seem to work together while being so very different, but it also seems a little too basic as far as Washed Out’s music goes. Regardless, the track’s different take is appreciated and great to take and just dream away with.
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Listen to the whole Acid Reflex EP now, via SoundCloud, and get the vinyl and digital copies 4/21, via Play It Again Sam.
Listen to more from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Washed Out now, via Spotify.