One of last year’s top bands is at it again with a new single out next month on Slumberland Records for their new song “Say No To Love”. To mark the occasion, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart also given us a video of the recent dream pop single “Higher Than The Stars”. The video starts out in black and white, with the sole addition of the color orange, but switches to full color in the middle. From Dylan Mulick, the video gives TPOBPAH a playful …

2009 is a tough year to judge. I’ve checked out more albums this year than any year in the past. Well over 1,000. And there have been quite a few great ones as well. When this list began, it had 110 albums. I abandoned my top 33 and 1/3 for 45, and then said “screw it” and upped the number to an even 50. These are the top notch albums of the year, all worthy of praise.

Not surprisingly, this list is filled with EPs by quite a few bands you know and quite a few you probably don’t. Of the ones you don’t know, many are likely from Washington; a quick count leaves me with five bands, or 1/4 of this list. Many of these bands I consider among the most promising artists to surface in 2009. All are worth checking out, and you’ll want to keep an eye on them as we head into 2010.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart is definitely one of this year’s biggest hype bands, and it’s obvious why: their fuzzy pop is undeniably catchy and not overly drowned in the forced underproduction that can often plague the sub-genre. After a wildly successful self-titled debut LP, they return with Higher Than The Stars, an EP whose title track matches the best tunes in the TPOBPAH library thus far.

We’re now half way through 2009, so I figured it was about time to collect a few favorites from the year thus far. I’ve put together 10 must-hear albums from the first half of 2009. To alleviate any bias, and because I’m totally obsessed with this style of categorization, I’m putting them alphabetically.

Ever since Up Against The Legends by The Legends came to dominate my playlist, I’ve been obsessed with super distorted pop music, and I’ve spent countless hours attempting in vain to find an adequate compliment to that album. There have been several close calls, but none have had the power The Legends packed into the jewel case until now. Introducing: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. What a lovely name for a band!