MP3: Meet Hooray For Earth, Grand Central's Opening Act For the Pains of Being Pure at Heart This Saturday

While most of the big-deal shows rolling through town lately have tended towards the loud and brash, this Saturday at Grand Central marks an evening for gentler souls. In honor of Poplife's anniversary, the party returns to its Anglophilic indie-loving roots for a show headlined by Surfer Blood and the...

By Arielle Castillo

June 7, 2010

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While most of the big-deal shows rolling through town lately have tended towards the loud and brash, this Saturday at Grand Central marks an evening for gentler souls. In honor of Poplife's anniversary, the party returns to its Anglophilic indie-loving roots for a show headlined by Surfer Blood and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

The former needs no introduction on this blog. The latter hails from Brooklyn (of course) and was similarly buzzy in 2009, but has largely avoided backlash thanks to its sweet, fuzzy indie-pop/shoegaze blend that's impossible to hate.

Worth checking out, though, too, is opening band Hooray For Earth, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-birthed act now also based in Brooklyn. The quartet picks up on the sensitive, twee leanings of its tour mates, but channel them through keyboards rather than fuzzy guitars. Where most "synth-pop" per se still sounds cold and post-punky, Hooray For Earth manages to sound warm and even symphonic, with faux brass even giving things a slightly lo-fi Burt Bacharach feel. Harmony-laden and buoyed by subtly sequenced beats, this is feel-good music that should also work on Grand Central's dancefloor.

The band's debut EP, Momo, just came out this past June 1 on indie Dovecote Records (also home of the Futureheads). After the jump, get a free MP3 for "Surrounded By Your Friends," as well as full show details.

Grand Central has been packed lately, and advance tickets for this show are already sold out. Corrective note: Advance tickets are still available, just keep trying if you get an error message on Wantickets saying they aren't. Plenty of people were turned away disappointed from the recent Major Lazer show, and while this appeals to a different crowd, the night also marks Poplife's always-slammed annual anniversary party.

Hooray for Earth, with the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Surfer Blood. 10 p.m. Saturday, June 12. Grand Central, 697 N. Miami Ave., Miami. Admission costs $12 in advance from wantickets.com; $15 at the door; age 18 and up. 305-377-2277; grandcentralmiami.com

Download: Hooray For Earth - "Surrounded By Your Friends"

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