Redemption.
Paranoia. Guilt. And brief glimpses of a better tomorrow, all cloaked in pop hooks
that truly help the medicine go down.
What is this? Another lost LP
from Brian Wilson's sandbox phase? If only things were that simple. What we're
really alluding to here is Passion Pit's first proper full-length, 'Manners',
a bird-flipping break from the blogosphere by a 21 year old with much more on
his manic mind than girls, girls, girls. You know, important matters, like the
end of the world and learning to love someone other than the man in the mirror.
That's the thing people missed about Passion Pit's debut EP, 'Chunk of
Change'. While it was originally meant as a Valentine's Day gift for a girlfriend
who "put up with" frontman Michael Angelakos, that detail's only half
of a story that isn't so cuddly when you consider the circumstances.
You
see, Angelakos has written songs since he was a piano-pounding 5 year old, from
spooky and spare folk tunes to pit-stirring ska punk. But one day, he just stopped.
Not by choice. Angelakos' creative well was simply in need of a severe refill,
so he started toying with the plug-ins and infinite possibilities of a computer
program. Six tracks later, 'Chunk of Change' was born by default. In need of an
impromptu thank you card and some feedback from friends, Angelakos started spreading
the songs around-quite casually, really. Which is impossible to do in an era when
blogs are as obsessed with breaking the Next Big Thing as labels are.
Flash
forward to 2008. With 'Chunk of Change's' official unmixed/mastered pressing in
tow, Angelakos and the ever-evolving Passion Pit band play to a sold-out crowd
at New York's Bowery Ballroom. A crowd that sees nothing wrong with singing along
to every word; even several 'Manners' selections, learned via osmosis by the second
verse. With flash bulbs popping in his face like the frontline of a rifle-toting
army, Angelakos notes the bizarre scene in front of him but never loses sight
of why he's here, of his calling to craft pitch-perfect pop songs-hooks that nip
at your heels and choruses that burrow into your brain.
A real deal album
in other words, one that delivers on the blissful and bright promises of early
fan favorites like "Sleepyhead." It took nearly two months of "explosive"
off-the-cuff sessions with producer Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, The Walkmen) to
get there-everything was written and recorded on the fly-but Manners is exactly
that, an irresistible, filler-free glimpse into the mind of a man who'd like to
unleash his very own 'Pet Sounds' someday.
Check the carefully-sculpted
songwriting on display: the speaker-panning synths and slightly sinister children's
chorus (straight outta P.S. 22 in NYC) of "Little Secrets" and "The
Reeling," the lead dulcimer loops and melancholic melodies of "Moth's
Wings," the ecstatic, riled-up climax of "Folds in Your Hands."
All part of a greater plan, the next step of which is taking Passion Pit's live
show to a level that matches, and eventually exceeds, Manners' ambition and kaleidoscopic
soundscapes. Because when Angelakos says he wants to be the next Randy Newman,
he's dead serious. And when he adds that Passion Pit is "a band with a lead
songwriter, not just Michael Angelakos and these guys," it's clear he's just
getting started.
Band:
Michael Angelakos (vocals/keyboard)
Ian
Hultquist (guitar)
Ayad Al Adhamy (keyboard)
Jeff Apruzzese (bass)
Nate
Donmoyer (drums)
'Manners' Tracklisting:
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
'Manners'
is available now through Sony Music.
