Passion Pit - Manners

[Drew Beringer]

Passion Pit – Manners
Release Date: May 19, 2009
Record Label: Frenchkiss

When the nights start getting shorter and the sun starts shining brighter, I always get the itch for tunes that will match the weather. I like something that I can rock out to during the day, as well as something calming during late nights. Basically, something I can spin at anytime. So you could imagine how giddy I was after I heard Passion Pit’s debut album, Manners, for the first time. Manners features some of the best synth-pop songs you’ll hear all year. Scratch that, it features some of the best songs you’ll hear in 2009.

Manners is a keyboard bonanza. Ian Hultquist plays the keys, as does vocalist Michael Angelakos, while Ayad Al Adhamy adds in the synth and samples. And they all make their presence known on opener “Make Light.” Add in Angelakos falsetto and the enthusiastic rhythm from drummer Nate Donmoyer and bassist Jeff Apruzzese, and you have a sunny track. Feel-good track of the year, “Little Secrets,” is like a flashback to the 80s, with a little disco thrown in. The synth is thick, and the keys lightly needle in and out. The track is so upbeat, even people with the darkest of souls will tap their toes.

You will feel like you’re moving in slow motion with “Moth’s Wings.” The band slows down the tempo to perfect effect here. First single, “The Reeling,” is incredibly vibrant. The keys are jazzy, and the beat is like a pulse, constantly pumping new life into your headphones. “Swimming in the Flood” is a beautiful track that will sprawl completely over your membrane, while “Folds In Your Hands” is an adventurous and choppy dance tune.

“Sleepyhead,” arguably the band’s most popular song, appears as track nine, and it dazzles. It screeches and soars, while at the same time it’s dizzying and vicious. “Seaweed Song” is for dreamers, floating effortlessly from the speakers to your ears. This is a record that loves you back.

There are some imperfections on Manners, including Angelakos’ vocals, which may be a little too much for some listeners, but there are so many different nuances you will discover with repeat listens, giving Manners incredible lasting power. Jump on the bandwagon now, because Passion Pit is one of the best breakthrough artists of 2009. Manners is the jam of the summer. And in such bleak times, it’s always nice to turn to something that will immediately pick you up.

Track Listing:
1. Make Light
2. Little Secrets
3. Moth’s Wings
4. The Reeling
5. Eyes As Candles
6. Swimming in The Flood
7. Folds In Your Hands
8. To Kingdom Come
9. Sleepyhead
10. Let Your Love Grow Tall
11. Seaweed Song

Passion Pit is:
Michael Angelakos – vocals/keys
Ian Hultquist – keys
Ayad Al Adhamy – synth/samples
Jeff Apruzzese – bass
Nate Donmoyer – drums

Official Website (http://www.passionpitmusic.com/); Official Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams)

[HBdoubleJ]

Such a fun album. I think I'll feel the same way about this that I did about Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours at the end of last year.

[Keagan Ilvonen]

Great review Drew. Love this album.

[princesschad]

Great review. I was hoping this album would match the EP, and it not only did, but it surpassed it. Fans of Vampire Weekend and Cut Copy should get on this.

[Heart-A-Tact]

I love this album to death.

[live.]

Yesssss

[phoenixinflames]

This album is SO good.

[popofeliz]

this is way better than vampire weekend and cut copy in my opinion

[hockeyguitar99]

Fantastic album. I really really like it.

[HometownHero]

Great review. I was hoping this album would match the EP, and it not only did, but it surpassed it. Fans of Vampire Weekend and Cut Copy should get on this.
I loved Cut Copy and Vampire Weekends albums. This sounds like the Chipmunks. No bueno

[XenoAbe]

One of the better albums of 2009 so far.

[mena]

This is definitely a perfect summer album. None of the tracks disappointment.

[Chris Reynolds]

Haven't been able to get into this album yet. Maybe I should keep trying, seeing as how everyone here loves them

[mushroom]

These were edith bowman's single of the week last week on radio 1, i'm still not sure on them.

[Young Machetes]

Love this album, and love the remixes that are coming from it.

[CarouselBoy]

surprised this album is getting a good review on this site. Not because it isn't good, just cause it's so different. I def like it and I downloaded it from Amazon with the $2.99 deal but it won't let me add like 4 songs to my iTunes. Wtf

[ninthandash]

catchy as heck.

[Romancebled]

great review! this album is amazing. one of my favorites of 09 so far. perfect for summer.

[redfalcon431]

I randomly bought their CD and I love it!

[Zachals]

but it's raining

[Spenny]

I love it, but only in small doses.
The vocals can be really grating at times.

[littlebeav]

Riyl?

[idledoeskill]

Listened to it once and passed it off as hipster bullshit. Deleted it, and I'm not using my ratio to snatch it again.

[InBetweenAisles]

Great review. I really enjoyed this album! Definitely a summer jam.

[oldwirehands]

This album is fucking solid. Something fun to listen to every now and then. I don't think anything will replace Mare Vitalis as my summer album though.

[atticusfinch]

This band is so amazing. I want to see them.

[Ryzenfall]

Great review. I thought this was a fantastic release. It gets stuck in my head frighteningly easily.

[Blake Solomon]

Love this album, and love the remixes that are coming from it.
i like the remixes i've heard better than anything on the album

[tpen892004]

Sleepyhead is one catchy tune.

[thiseternalsnow]

2.99 on amazon mp3 right now, too.

[maffy]

this band and Angelakos are pure gold.

fantastic album through and through.

[brenByah]

Mixed thoughts on the album so far, but Sleepyhead's gold.

[MILFCORE]

I've listed to Moth Wings (good song) and was wondering whether the rest of the album was good.
Anyways, good review, I'm sold...

[diehtc0ke]

This one is definitely going to be on my top 10 this year.

[emotionisdd]

Hate the first track.

Rest of the album is solid.


May end up being bigger than or lasting longer than MGMT as this summer's "IT" band.

[ninetyFhOURs]

very good
very good summer music
P4k says its blushingly "american"
i think that's what i love though

[MattRM]

Listened to it once and passed it off as hipster bullshit. Deleted it, and I'm not using my ratio to snatch it again.
Cool guy alert.

[saturday_snow_squall]

i am so loving this cd.

[overdrive91]

Its quite an amazing cd :)

[atainder]

I've listened to this a few times through. It does absolutely nothing for me thus far.

I'll probably spin it a few more times...

[themonopoly]

this album has a lot of high points and low points, but overall, more impressive than i thought after listening to Chunk of Change....really like Little Secrets

[oncedarkness]

this review is making me check them out right now

[johnh5304]

Great review. I was hoping this album would match the EP, and it not only did, but it surpassed it. Fans of Vampire Weekend and Cut Copy should get on this.Fans of music should get in on this.

[Blaise&Panthia.]

They're playing at Reading, I have just noticed.

[navidson]

It's decent - But not as catchy as everybody is making out, and the vocals are borderline unlistenable until you get desensitized to them

[newfoundmichael]

Sleepyhead is such a killer song.

[princesschad]

Fans of music should get in on this.
I concur.

[Steve Henderson]

Finally listened to this over the weekend on my drive to Chicago. The vocals are pretty annoying at first, and take some getting used to. I am glad I gave it a chance, though - I am really loving it now...especially "Little Secrets."

[chelseaxsmilexD]

Never heard of them until seeing them @ It's On With Alexa Chung not good not bad.

[yayitsjoe]

"Little Secrets" is probably one of the top songs of the year for me.

and, in my humble opinion: Passion Pit > Discovery. i have yet to check out Phoenix though.

[iheartmusic043]

Amazing album. Hated Michael's voice at first but I adore it now.

[iheartmusic043]

"Little Secrets" is probably one of the top songs of the year for me.

and, in my humble opinion: Passion Pit > Discovery. i have yet to check out Phoenix though.

I agree. Definitely check out Phoenix. Their cd is in my top 10 of 09.

[yayitsjoe]

I agree. Definitely check out Phoenix. Their cd is in my top 10 of 09.
i gotta find it.

[delvec19]

Amazing album. Hated Michael's voice at first but I adore it now.
This. Took me a while to like this album...I love it now.

[Sundawgrecords]

All that they captured on this album gives so much excitement to music and where it is about to go.

[ACW1313]

Passion Pit’s debut full-length Manners is an exceptionally fun example of electro-pop, even if it clearly displays its influences in ways that, at times, exceeds just referencing them. Featuring a style constructed from the implementation of both carefully-extracted samples and a textured, multi-synthesizer attack (in place of dual guitarists, presumably), Passion Pit’s first LP evokes carefree feelings and contains both party-ready anthems such as “The Reeling” as well as synth-pop takes on indie grandiosity like “Moth’s Wings”.

Manners’ second track, “Little Secrets”, perhaps best exemplifies the interplay between traditional sampling and live synth riffage that Passion Pit employs to construct their sound. Sample man and synth player Ayad Al Adhamy triggers a boys’ choir singing the lines “Higher and higher” as the main hook for the chorus, while vocalist Michael Angelakos’ high-pitched (and, I suspect, heavily processed) indie-rock yelps soar over a pulsing dual synth lead. Upon first listen to “Little Secrets”, an obvious comparison can be drawn to Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.”; interestingly enough (and likely unintentionally), Passion Pit’s lead track also echoes electronic music pioneer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Gesang der Junglinge” in both the sampling of a boys’ choir and both artists’ genre-splicing. Just like Passion Pit mixes sampled sounds with live synthesizer lines, Stockhausen melded the “Electronische” and “Musique Concrete” schools of electronic music when he released “Gesang”.

From here, Passion Pit continues to unveil their grasp of pop sensibility; the record truly sounds like they are a band that simply traded guitars for synthesizers and samplers, as the pop hooks are straight ‘80s fare throughout the record. This ‘80s throwback aesthetic is undoubtedly calculated – these boys hail from the Boston indie-electro-dance-pop scene, after all – however Angelakos’ downright bizarre vocal delivery and Al Adhamy’s heavily pitch-edited samples save the record from delving into the depths of “already been done”. The track “Sleepyhead” is a standout; the pitch-bending synth hook crescendo in the bridge absolutely soars, creating an incredibly “danceable” atmosphere above rousing handclap samples. Handclap samples? Cheesy? Perhaps, but the unabashedly huge synthesizer leads with tones reminiscent of vintage analog Moog synths coupled with Angelakos’ completely self-aware vocals (delivered, hilariously enough, without a hint of self-consciousness given the absurdly high pitch of his voice) really make it work.

The track “Make Light” arguably falls flat for the band; the insistent live bass line and the Death Cab- reminiscent melody hook don’t maintain interest or momentum the way Angelakos probably intended. However, more adventurous arrangements on tracks such as “Moth’s Wings” and “Eyes as Candles”, which include more choirs, saxophone samples, and Passion Pit’s trademark slithering synth lines hit home hard; the textures on the tracks afforded by these multi-layered arrangements coupled with Angelakos’ core competency of melodic major vocal hooks push them into the realm of “adventurous yet accessible” and successful electro-pop.

“The Reeling” makes excellent use of glitch-styled drum samples to augment an the band’s real live drummer; while again, the tone choices on these pounding drums wear their 1980s influence on their sleeves, the twinkling synths and simulated “lo-fi” production somehow create a retro-pop atmosphere I can buy. While perhaps distantly inspired by the so-called “Krautrock” stylings of electro-pop grandfathers like Kraftwerk, Passion Pit’s viewing lens of 80s electronica seems more focused on an idealized or charicatured version of the backing beats for Madonna or other electro-glam acts rather than the sparse Teutonic arrangements.

Manners is well produced and the mix is clear, though at times the combination of buzzing synths, fuzzy bass effects, and Angelakos’ shrill (at times, grating) upper-register howls can be tiresome on the ear. Aside from standouts “Little Secrets”, “Sleepyhead”, “The Reeling”, and “Moth’s Wings”, the remainder tracks end up feeling like throwaways. Passion Pit is at its best when it is at its most self-indulgent; keep those huge hooks coming! The synth leads in particular drive these songs; certainly Angelakos’ difficult-to-understand (and, ultimately, uninspired and indie-cliché lyrics) are not the main draw here.

But still, wherever these guys are drawing influence from, they are currently doing their incredibly upbeat, live performance dance-pop better than the rest of their genre, save for another Boston outfit called Yes Giantess, perhaps. To clarify, Passion Pit’s Manners is not to be lumped in with “four on the floor” euro-dance techno, nor is it truly comparable to the more heavily sample-focused Parisian duo Justice. Think of the album as collection of guilty-pleasures, viewed through an 80s dance-pop lens and played by an indie-garage band who have swapped jangly guitar riffs for massively unsubtle (yet incredibly satisfying) synthesizer lines. I am most interested in hearing their follow-up to Manners, however, to truly discern whether Passion Pit continues to explore and develop their unique sound or simply rides the already-waning synth pop trend straight into obscurity.

[btbam000]

This is such a cool collection of songs. I really took a liking to this band.

[Ryan Chadwick]

Passion Pit is such a well written band, Sleepyhead is playing on my phone literally nonstop