Days of Abandon (Yebo)

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart was once synonymous with scrappy DIY fuzz, but over the course of three LPs, the Brooklyn band has transformed into a polished pop-rock machine. Distortion is downplayed on Days of Abandon, which is instead characterized by pristinely shimmering tones and impossibly lush harmonies.

It begins on a low-key note with “Art Smock”, a soft acoustic ballad that finds frontman Kip Berman borrowing from Belle & Sebastian’s bag of tricks, right down to the faint Scottish affectation in his voice. After this, things go wide-screen, as “Simple and Sure” is heralded by skyward harmonies that sound like they were ripped straight out of Feist’s next iPod commercial. There’s an undercurrent of heartland rock to the jangling chords, which mingle with sparkling synths as the song swells to a massive chorus.

Elsewhere, the Loveless-style six-string assault of “Until the Sun Explodes” is a rare throwback to the outfit’s fuzzier days, while closing ballad “The Asp at My Chest” is flecked with bittersweet horns. These songs, like much of the record, aren’t quite as charming or catchy as the band’s back-catalogue favourites, but the sweeping production sets a compellingly cinematic tone.

The collection’s most memorable song, “Kelly”, comes from out of left field, as Berman hands off lead vocals to guest Jen Goma of A Sunny Day in Glasgow. The track’s bouncy rhythm recalls the Cure’s most upbeat moments, and Berman’s absence from the mike means that it barely sounds like the Pains at all, but its wistfully gorgeous pop hooks prove that the group can hit the mark even when venturing outside of its comfort zone.