This past summer, Brooklyn indie poppers The Pains of Being Pure at Heart released their third studio album, Days of Abandon. A return to their jangly, uplifting beginnings, frontman Kip Berman commented in a interview that the band’s ultimate inspiration during recording session was — wait for it — pop sweetheart Taylor Swift.
“Oh my god. You don’t realize how much we talked about Taylor Swift in the making of this record,” Berman said. “I was so frustrated that we couldn’t get it to sound more like Taylor Swift. At one point Kurt was like, ‘You know Kip. I know you want it to sound like Taylor Swift but you’re not Taylor Swift, so you’re going have to let it go for a while.’ There was one song that made the B-side that was a lot more Taylor Swift sounding than anything on the record.”
Today, Berman and co. have unveiled their take on Swift-ian pop with “Poison Touch”. It may be no “Shake It Off”, but the sheer catchiness is undeniable. With drums that pop like bubblegum in the mouth of a pre-teen girl riding the wave of shimmery dream pop guitars, its perhaps the most unabashedly accessible and cheery takes on TPOBPAH’s brand of indie pop. Though Ms. Swift was unavailable to lend some harmonic magic, the band found a suitably bubbly replacement in A Sunny Day In Glasgow’s own Jen Goma.
Listen in below (via The Line of Best Fit).
Berman previously suggested that the band may release an entire EP of various B-sides. Stay tuned for more.