Passion Pit : 'Manners'
Released: 18th May 2009
Label: Columbia
I don’t get very excited about post. I mean, who does? Usually it’s the bank, who would like to ‘politely remind’ me to pay the credit card bill or another bank telling me I should try their better, presumably even more polite credit card service. At best, it’s a letter meant for someone else or, that one day a year, pizza vouchers. What’s the point of this? I guess you’re asking – well, the point is I have never been more excited about post than I was last Tuesday, the day that Passion Pit’s album ‘Manners’ landed on the carpet just inside my front door. It’d have been with me sooner were it not for bank holiday Monday, a day traditionally used as an excuse to be merry and over-indulgent on the Sunday – but not this time. This time I was at war with bank holiday Monday and refused to acknowledge her charms. I wanted to listen to ‘Manners’.
Why the excitement? Well, simply because Passion Pit’s EP, ‘Chunk of Change’, remains the best thing I’ve listened to this year. Come to think of it, I don’t remember many years worth of music that excited me as much as that EP – you’d have to go back to the days I had the Nick Valensi hairdo. Oh, how I miss them. Anyway, scene set? I’d bloody well hope so.
And so starts an album I have plainly and regrettably done my best to over-hype, one that surely now can only fail to live up to these most lofty of expectations. I’ve always liked defiance.
Track one is ‘Make Light’, charged with the task of opening the record. It’s epic in every sense, an album opener or an album closer – nothing else. Guitars are prominent on the intro; frantic and monotone but not an ounce dull, they surprised me right away. If you were asked to take one instrument out of ‘Chunk of Change’ it’d have been a synth, so they’ll stick to that winning formula right? Well, they kind of do, but these additional guitars are set right in the perfect place, smack at the beginning of the record. Almost in your face, this song shouts versatility – proof after four minutes that Michael Angelakos is more than a keyboard kid and his companions too. It’s awesome.
Next comes ‘Little Secrets’, which sees the band return to the synth-inflicted tones of their previous work. The intro is dance-floor, and the vocal everything I’d come to expect of Angelakos – almost falsetto, riding on top of the melody and telling a story. The vocal is an easily underestimated component of a band like Passion Pit, one who might appear to rely on the strength of their melodies. It’s one of about a hundred reasons Passion Pit can’t really be compared to many of their current contemporaries – they’re flying a higher level, thanks in part to the delivery of their creator. This song also throws in some fantastic backing vocals, prominent and layered into the heart of the song. Vocally, it’s fair to say, this song is my favourite on the album.
‘Little Wings’ sounds like it should – it floats a little bit, maybe even meandering during the verse, but when you hit the chorus you understand why. The chorus is euphoric, the keyboard infused backdrop heart-wrenchingly beautiful and the lyrics perfect for the song. The sound on this one is probably more 1980’s than it is anything more contemporary and it would’ve fared well in a ‘song of the 80’s’ competition, I’m sure of it. The vocal towards the end, when supported by backing vocals again, it somehow reminds me of Annie Lennox – but please don’t be put off, for it’s powerful and frail at the exact same time and is exactly what the melody needs. Song craftsmanship marks are already through the roof. It’s one thing having the voice, the keyboard skils, the band around you – it’s entirely another putting a thousand jigsaw pieces together and coming out with a work of art. This song is a musical masterpiece.
‘The Reeling’ is a song you may be more familiar with if you’ve not already got hold of this album, someone told me it was Radio 1’s ‘Record of the Week’ not so long ago. (Note: it’s not that I’m claiming to be too cool for BBC Radio or anything, someone just did happen to say that). Reputation concerns aside, it doesn’t take long to realise why Whiley and co afforded this song such a title. The chorus is that most likely to set pulses racing and feet moving towards the centre of the floor, it leaps out of the end of the verse and cranks up the tempo. The verse itself is more low-key than some of those that sit around it on other songs, but I happen to think this is just more evidence that Angelakos knows how to create theatre inside songs – the shift between verse and chorus here is defined and pronounced and intended to win accolades like ‘record of the week’. I doubt there’ll be a better one this year, especially as this weeks is utter shite.
A pause for breath. Already after four songs this album is doing all it can, maybe even surpassing my hopes. I really should’ve hit pause, because the intro to ‘Eyes as Candles’ is adorable and irresistible, it’s a girl who your eyes won’t leave, a film you can’t stop watching – there’s no point in trying not to like it nor worrying what everyone else might think, it’s unreal. The verse see’s Angelakos drop the vocal down an octave or two and turn down the backing synths, allowing a cracking bass line to dominate. The drums are noticeably different too, like the guy put the ‘church hall’ setting on his mixer. I’m sure it was more complex than that, but the point is this song is experimental in both sound and structure, it’s no wonder that they have to resort to ‘na na na’s’ at one point, probably just to remember where they are in the song. Unrelenting, this album surprises and surpasses and shows no sign of wilting under the pressure of its prelude.
I can’t keep telling you how this album is as good as music gets, can I? It’s awful dull. Last week I got to slate an album and I found words coming through my fingers two at a time. This album is too good for what I can say so far, I just sound pathetic in my admiration. That’s because I am. But, it’s my job to pick fault so I’m going to with ‘Swimming in the Flood’. This song represents Passion Pit at their most downbeat; a slow, almost hip-hop drum supporting some hypnotic keyboard sounds and a soft vocal. It’s another good song, but it’s not quite what you want to hear from Passion Pit, at least not this time. It lacks their excitement and vigour, and attempts to branch out into strings and to stretch into other genres are brave but slightly lacking – only very, very slightly. I’m trying, ok? I like this song, but I think it’s the one people are most likely to skip, and that’s the only bad thing I’m prepared to say.
‘Folds in Your Hands’ is slightly experimental in its construction, the most ‘dance’ song on the album and it works , whilst ‘To Kingdom Come’ brings back the guitars of the first song, only this time slowed right down. As I said earlier, when Passion Pit dropped the tempo it didn’t quite fly, but this song acts as proof they’re more than capable and if you listen carefully you’ll catch a hint of trumpet on the beautiful chorus. This song is dreamy, one to put on at a barbeque this summer – nobody will mind.
‘Sleepyhead’ is the final song on ‘Chunk of Change’ and back when I reviewed that I described it as the best song on that record. Quite something then that the highlight of a ten-out-of-ten EP isn’t even the best song on this album. Come to think of it, I’m not sure what is the best song on this album. 'Sleepyhead' is up there, though – the vocal fights for superiority with the melody until submitting to a breakdown that is indescribably good – the definite highlight of Passion Pit’s offerings so far. I can’t get enough of this song and maybe it is the best one on the record after all. My only complaint is that this song sounds like it belongs as the last one on the album, but I can see why they didn’t want to close with it again.
‘Let Your Love Grow Tall’ is, predictably, a love song. That of course is the only predictable thing about it though, because this song stutters when you think it’s about to run off, then arrives at a chorus that sort of sounds like it was born in Britain – pounding drums like something on a Doves record and a choir in the background. Close your eyes and enjoy, this is fucking AMAZING. It’s anthemic and addictive and if Passion Pit are playing at sunset you’ll want to be there listening to this with your hands in the air. Pop-tastic, exceptional, mesmerising, etc.
And, finally, the album closes with ‘Seaweed Song’. Why do they do it? If I’m to fault Passion Pit it’s that they do call their songs awful names sometimes – ‘Cuddle Fuddle’ from the EP being a previous example. Like that song though, this one overcomes the troubles lent it by the title, closing what is an imperious album in an imperious way. The lyrics cry ‘surrounded by angels’, and that’s how this song feels – heavenly, once more euphoric, the product of an artist whose voice soothes as it entertains. Whoever this song is written for should hunt down Angelakos and forgive him his sins, because he means every word. At least it sounds like he does – but his penchant for theatre is a strong and skilled one. I love this song and I love this album.
Apologies for being predictable, but this album is a ten out of ten every damn time and if something beats it this year then I’m the King of Atlantis, city under the sea.
10/10
Words: Benjamin Coley
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Reply #1 on : Wed July 13, 2011, 20:47:02