Passion Pit - Manners

Passion Pit, a Boston-based electronic band, delivered their first full length, Manners, in may of '09. With Manners, the band has taken Boston by storm. They played the Best Music Poll Concert at City Hall (I was there, it was awesome) in August and their show at the Boston House of Blues on January 6th is sold out and the $25 list-price tickets are going for upwards of $150 on other sites.

Manners' fourth song "The Reeling" came in at #29 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and the album's 9th track, "Sleepyhead," is featured on a commercial for the new Palm Pixi.

The hype is well deserved. Manners is an incredibly fun, energetic album with surprising depth. The band has a distinct sound. Multiple layer of synth and digital effects, driving drum beats and bass lines give support to Michael Angelakos' distinct voice and searing, energetically catchy melodies.

It's hard to apply the term 'badass' to electro-pop but a few songs on Manners have truly badass electronic hooks. The start of the album's second track, "Little Secrets," is a fine example. A solo synth piano starts the track with a catchy line and when the rest of the band kicks in it's almost impossible to stop yourself from jamming out. Try to resist. I dare you.

"The Reeling" has a similar effect. Try again. Not to mention, its video is really cool.

There are a few tracks with layering and use of effects Radiohead would be proud of. "Sleepyhead" layers a vocal loop, multiple synth lines, a neat arpeggiated guitar part over an always-solid base and drum line. The vocal loop and Angelakos' melody pair nicely and the overall product is a damn catchy and just as complex song.

This album is a gem, a great summer soundtrack. But it makes me nervous for Passion Pit. It's a debut album that presents a unique sound. How good it is took a lot of people by surprise. But now that Passion Pit is an established presence can their next work provide something just as fresh and entertaining, or is this a one-time deal? Manners shows a lot of promise. It shows that Passion Pit has style. I hope that they can come through with a few more albums that prove they have substance.