New York-based musicians Alex Naidus (bass), Kip Berman (guitar/vocals), Kurt Feldman (drums), and Peggy Wang-East (keyboards/vocals) came together to form the Pains of Being Pure at Heart in 2007. With its wall-of-fuzz guitar stylings and sugary pop underpinnings, the band nodded to any number of old-school indie pop and shoegaze acts, most notably Black Tambourine and My Bloody Valentine.

The band recorded a few tracks soon after forming, which were released as a self-titled 3” CD-R on Cloudberry Records. A self-titled EP followed soon after for Painbow. During 2008 the band released a number of limited-edition split singles on Atomic Beat Records and Slumberland. Their first album, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, was released in February of 2009 on Slumberland and the good reviews and positive press (including a spot on Late Night with Carson Daly) made them one of the most talked about bands of early 2009.