This is a complete rerecording by The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, a band that is essentially solo artist Kip Berman and friends. This was done for a vinyl subscription series and to pay tribute to the legend that is Tom Petty. Now, a real rock band would’ve done something like Damn The Tornadoes or Hard Promises, but since we’re dealing with an indie band, they went with more of the million selling, singer songwriter stuff.
“Free Fallin’,” probably one of the most recognizable songs of all time, is turned into something different here and it works. It sounds different, of course, but it won’t turn off the average listener. “I Won’t Back Down” feels less so. Berman takes on the Petty voice a bit, and the song feels a little less than a tribute than trying to make it one’s own.
A personal favorite of mine, “A Face In The Crowd” turns into something that sounds like a pop song you hear on the radio now featuring some girl singer I’ve never heard of. Whether they’re trying to pay homage or trying to make this sound like a Pains record is difficult to tell, but this track isn’t particularly appealing. “Yer So Bad” comes across like bad indie rock, the complete opposite of what Petty had intended in the first place. The biggest sin here is ‘Runnin’ Down A Dream,” which has the soul and most of the guitar work sucked out it! That’s the point of the song: it’s a nostalgia look back with lots of guitar. But this version just doesn’t have it.
“The Apartment Song” stays quite catchy and is probably one of the better cuts found here, along with “A Mind with A Heart of It’s Own,” which is just striking and actually really good.
Overall, this is not a bad collection, but here’s the kicker: this was recorded for a vinyl only subscription series that one had to help fund a Kickstarter to get done. I just listened to it for free and didn’t have to subscribe to anything! Maybe if it had been done for a charitable cause of some sort, it would have had a nicer meaning. Instead, we just get vinyl subscription. Ain’t life wonderful?
