Passion Pit are a pop-synth 5 piece from the USA, lead by the effervescent, 21 year old, Michael Angelakos.
Following their short 6 track EP ‘Chunk of Change’ in 2008, a gift for Angelakos’ girlfriend, they have now progressed from writing about love and relationships and prefer to base their songs on wider subjects, suitable for a larger fanbase.
Set to begin touring in early December, they intend to visit the UK (see MySpace for tour dates) in Spring 2010. The British music scene will no doubt find the sound intriguing and interesting, with the ever present and increasing invasion of electric/synth-sounds in the indie-world at the moment.
The new album, ‘Manners’, boasts an orchestral variety of instruments and sounds to feast your ears on. They evidentally like experimenting, proven by the widespread use of lesser known instruments and novel beats; there’s even a school choir involved! With whiffs of early 80′s keyboard samples and Angelakos’ falsetto vocals, tracks are created that can be compared to that of The Postal Service and Animal Collective. Passion Pit offer equally raw and emotional lyrics and music to represent the thoughts and emotions behind many young people. Despite comparisons, Passion Pit have undoubtedly tapped into their own niche market, giving playful riffs mixed with dance-beats and pop-synths.
The stand-alone track on ‘Manners’ is, unusually, not the first track, but the ninth; ‘Sleepyhead’, the only track from the first EP ‘Chunk of Change’ to make the cut on the new album. Tying keyboard riffs, often high-pitched and synthy, and a slow, hypnotic dance beat, nodding the young’uns to the sticky dancefloors, laden with skinny jeans and quiffed hair-do’s. Maybe it’s ironic that the shortest track on the album is, in my opinion, the best. At just 2.55, ‘Sleepyhead’ manages to include an interesting opening, haunting chimes and a somewhat Eastern flavour. Alongside this track, Passion Pit manage to include other good pieces, such as ‘The Reeling’, which explores a wealth of sounds that could be explained as harking back to the 60′s, 80′s and 90′s, a somewhat frenzied approach but it somehow works. ‘Moth’s Wings’ is another good track on the album, expressing heartbreak and undeniable heartfelt emotion.
Passion Pit are a cool, confident and tight-knit group, who, for a band releasing thier debut album, seem clued up on what people want to hear. No doubt their tracks will echo round the festival stages in years to come, as well as through the headphones of love-sick teens, drunk and hungover students alike and through the clubs who are begging for that “Je ne sais quoi”. [Jodie]
Check out the MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/passionpitjams.
