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In my very first post as a contributor to this site, I explored Passion Pit’s ‘Sleepyhead’-centered EP, Chunk of Change. Since then, I’ve been chomping at the bit to hear and review their full length album. Well, it’s here, and it was worth the wait. Instead of just riding on the success of ‘Sleepyhead’, Passion Pit expand their sound and try out different styles, to varying levels of success.

The opening track, ‘Make Light’, is a perfect example of the band’s willingness to experiment. Although it maintains an electronic feel, it leans toward a more guitar-driven rock sound. It strikes me as a song you might get if you put together Death Cab For Cutie and MGMT. Of course, you might have to kick Ben Gibbard in the balls to get his voice high enough. Luckily, Angelakos is able to pull it off without too much trouble as ‘Make Light’ sets a progressive mood for the rest of the album.

The next track, ‘Little Secrets’, is the most immediately catchy song on the entire album. Even “Sleepyhead’ took me a few listens to reel me in; ‘Little Secrets’ pulls no punches, grabbing you from the first seconds with a synth-riff that seems to be straight from the Super Mario World soundtrack. The song quickly develops into a toe-tapping, infectiously danceable electro-pop anthem, complete with children’s choir. I’m not sure I’d put this in the same category of mind-blowingness as ‘Sleepyhead’, but it’s outstanding in an entirely different way.

‘Moth’s Wings’ varies the sound again and keeps everything interesting. Slower than ‘Little Secrets’ but by no means a ballad, it manifests itself over a simple, inviting piano riff. Also, for the first time to date, Angelakos never once goes into his falsetto. Now that’s just unheard of. So far, it seems like the whole album is pushing the band to musically venture outside of their comfort zones. ‘Moth’s Wings’ just another track that demonstrates the versatility of a band many were afraid would turn out to be a one-trick pony.

Although they continue to try new things throughout the middle of the album, none of the tracks really stood out to me. ‘The Reeling’, their first single, just seems to be trying too hard to be another ‘Sleepyhead’, and consequentially ends up a bit overproduced. ‘To Kingdom Come’ is my favorite of the middle five, if only for its nonsensical, fun chorus of “na na na na na na, hey, hey, hey, hey.” ‘Swimming In the Flood’ is my least favorite of the album, and to be honest, I still haven’t been able to listen through the entire song. It just doesn’t do it for me. The next two, ‘Folds In Your Hands’ and ‘Eyes As Candles’ are decent but forgettable songs.

And now we’re back to the song that started it all. Truthfully, I’m a little bummed that Angelakos & Co. decided to put ‘Sleepyhead’ on this CD. I know they have every right to given that it’s their breakout song and an overdose of awesome to boot. I just think that they were doing so well handling the hype that this song created that adding it in was just unnecessary and redundant. It actually feels a bit out of place on the album because of all the different directions Passion Pit has taken on Manners. Oh well, life goes on.

‘Let Your Love Grow Tall’ immediately returns to the experimental feel of the album. This one goes more of the route of a contemporary straightforward rock song. Take Angelakos’s voice down a couple octaves and this could be a Hold Steady or Social Distortion song. Once again, it’s just one more avenue for the band to try something different.

When the closing track, ‘Seaweed Song’, started, my first thought was that I had accidentally burned a Flaming Lips track onto the end of the CD. Angelakos even sounds exactly like Wayne Coyne. Influences aside, it’s a great song and an awesome way to end the CD: “Nobody knows you the way you know you, but I think I do, but I thought I knew, yeah I thought I knew.” Well, I thought I knew Passion Pit, but they turned my expectations upside and gave them a nice little shake.

In all, I am very pleasantly surprised with Manners. Angelakos and his band stay poised in the face of hype and produce an album that branches out and moves forward. They don’t ride on the success of ‘Sleepyhead’, nor do they try to top it. They ended up with an outstanding album filled with musical risks. Of course, with risks come the inevitable flop here and there, but for the most part, Manners is worth your time.

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I couldn’t decide which songs to put up, so I’m just going to put up the first three on the album. If you like them, please go buy the rest of the album. It’s worth every cent and then some.
Passion Pit – Make Light
Passion Pit – Little Secrets
Passion Pit – Moth’s Wings

Tags: album