The Pains of Being Pure at Heart played at San Francisco Bath House on February 25 and you’ll have to forgive me for not posting this review earlier! This was also one of those rare times that neither of us took photos. Bad kids, no dinner.

They transported me back to feeling like the Smiths/Ash/Smashing Pumpkins-loving sixteen year-old that I was. That’s all I expected and I had my perma-grin on throughout the gig. They were good, but not particularly engaging. As another local reviewer (he’s sexist and a chronic hater, so he gets no link!) pointed out, the live setting also made some of the samey-ness of their songs more obvious. To be honest, I didn’t care and I can’t wait to hear more. It’s not wrong to love a band for making you grin. So there.