Passion Pit Manners Rating: 6.7 Label: Frenchkiss Records Release: May 18, 2009

Everyone needs a few albums in their collection that they can throw on- usually on a whim or during a fleeting moment of giddiness- to capitalize on or add a little musical light-heartedness to the day. For me, Manners, the first full-length release by Passion Pit is that ticket: catchy retro-grooves loaded up with poppy snyths, male-falsetto vocals (throughout), weighty bass lines accentuated with a pounding kick drum and cymbals (giving a nod to dance music), Children’s choir sound clips, hell even hand bells –all mixed in the studio into an uplifting 1980s meets 2000s kind of sound. All in all it’s a pretty good kick, though if you’ve found a more comfortable listening home in the retro electropop genre, Manners can be a bit more than that, like a fairly solid putout for the Boston-based quintet’s first album-length release.

“Make Light” launches the effort with a fun and lively blend of synthesizer, dance rhythm and the Pit’s signature high-pitched and undulating vocals. The combination of elements here jumpstarts a bit of a time warp to an era perhaps where Duran Duran, Boy George, maybe even some Billy Idol, roamed the musical landscape and MTV actually showed music videos. Yet it seems to possess a contemporary sound of its own. In any case, it’s a great opening track with an energy to break up any bout of ‘the Mondays’ whatever year your ears tell you it is.

That overall feeling is carried on, and at times even amplified, throughout Manners. “Little Secrets”, “The Reeling” and “Sleepyhead” crank up the snyth to 11 and rock out hard with pulsating dance grooves that insist on being played at high volumes. I imagine these tracks in particular to play well late night in clubs prompting a “where the hell did they find this?” response from the thinning crowd. “Moth’s Wings”, “Folds in Hands” and “Let Your Love Grow Tall” round out the album with many of the same characteristic components but in a slightly more subdued approach to the cross-era sound.

Some of the middle album tracks don’t seem to have quite the same energy and ‘passion’ and can be passed off as filler material (“To Kingdom Come”, “Swimming in the Flood”), but given the top-heaviness of the more vigorous tracks on Manners,

this is easily overlooked and almost expected. When you pour so much of yourself into a particular track like Passion Pit does, some songs are bound to come up a little on the shorter side.

Also of note are the group’s videos for “The Reeling” and “Sleepyhead”, which are well cut and showcase some of the additional creative depth Passion Pit is capable of. “The Reeling” is shot to resemble a scratchy reel film and the frames are stitched together by an innovative effect of continuously tearing the screen like a piece of paper. “Sleepyhead” features a rotating cube, displaying frames with images like a television, moving along on a threaded rod to the beat of the song. Both videos bring out the essence of the music well and do so with some visual flair and novelty.

As long as they can continue to stay current and innovative with these trends, the Passion Pit will be a fairly large blip on the electropop radar for some time to come.

Written by: Mike Romankiewicz on August 25th, 2009 | Filed under Music Reviews