Mike Posner - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart | Song reviews

“Belong”
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

For the right money, any guitar band can sound like the Smashing Pumpkins. In hindsight, Billy Corgan’s tingling guitar squall wasn’t his trademark, so much as a product of producer Flood and mixer Andy Wallace. The two studio whizzes reteam on this POBPAH fuzz bomb, and turn a wet sweater of a band into a gargantuan Siamese dream. With a mix of androgynous vocals, a watery bass groove and piles of guitar effects pedals, “Belong” practically comes branded with “1993” into its pale flesh. Kip Berman’s somnambulant sighing gets lost in the gale. He sings about eyes and the sun, but it’s hard to discern whether the singer is repeating “We stroke ’em off” or “beef Stroganoff.” Regardless, the nostalgic blast is the next best thing to James Iha and Corgan making up.