Hmmm, I'l be the first to admit this isn't the greatest remix ever but y'know Karen O+ Passion Pit= Hype Machine zeitgesit. Also it gives me the chance/ excuse to post the very cool single artwork for 'Heads Will Roll' released on June 29th.
///Gigwise///
When, in 2008, college kids in Boston, Massachusetts got hold of the tape Michael Angelakos had made his girlfriend they began ripping and burning it until it was the sort of campus hit Asher Roth and Vampire Weekend dream of. As a concept originally dreamed up as an elaborate Valentine’s gift it must be baffling to Passion Pit’s Michael Agelakos that he is now the proud creator of a fully formed band, even more so a band who surf the wave of hype to dizzying heights. This spirit of DIY romanticism continues through to Passion Pit’s debut album ‘Manners’ a giddy Summer soundtrack destined to be an album of the year contender.
Much like the aforementioned ‘Chunk Of Change EP’ much of ‘Manners’ channels an overwhelming sense of euphoria, the kind of feeling indescribable and other worldly, through their music. To do this they use a killer combination of heady synth electronics and stratospherically high falsetto vocals. By the second track of the album you will know if it’s for you or not- ‘Manners’ certainly requires a sweet tooth. If, however, you’re in for the long haul then the album delivers hit after hit. Passion Pit are one of those bands who sound like so many other people but never fall directly between the cross-hairs of plagiarism to be derided. Hot Chip, Go Team! MGMT, Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev all loom over ‘Manners’ like the sun illuminating a child’s playground. The album begins with three tracks of such staggeringly high quality you have to remind yourself that there is still a single (‘The Reeling’) and the sublimely re-mastered EP track ‘Sleepyhead’ to come. Most striking is ‘Little Secrets’, a wall of wobbly and pulsating sound most symptomatic of Passion Pit’s sound, the sugar rush is made all the sweeter by the children’s choir forming and accentuating the songs bridge. The bands Flaming Lips tendencies are most obvious on the charming ‘Moth’s Wings’ which is essentially using Oklahoman’s ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah Song’ as a backdrop.
There is a definite lull in the middle of the album where repetition seeps in and perseverance is needed to combat the occasionally grating vocals however as soon as the angelic intro of ‘Sleepyhead’ kicks in all is forgotten as the thrilling injection of joy is sent coursing through the veins once more. The most enticing thing about ‘Manners’ is how you can find a new favourite track with each listen, as said they do sound very similar to each other but even as the LP comes to a close the anthems keep arriving and ‘Let Your Love Grow Tall’ and ‘Seaweed Song’ both provide an exemplary final farewell.
Can our nation of rain-soaked complainers take a band so unashamedly happy to their hearts? You’d be fools not to.
8/10
As the years shortest month of the year comes to an end it gives us a chance to look back on the most interesting posts of the last 28 days.
+ Words with... Passion Pit.
+ Peter Doherty- 'Grace/ Wastelands' review.
+ The Brit Awards happened.
+ Amazing documentary from VBS.tv on Donk music.
+ WTF?! moment of the month- Morrissey appeared on The One Show.
+ New video from The Maccabees
+ Valentine's Day Playlist.
+ NME Awards Tour 2009 reviewed.
+ Album reviews of Lily Allen, Empire Of The Sun and NASA.
Plus much much more on The Soft Pack, Temper Trap, Eugene McGuinness, The Grammy Awards and The Rakes return.
61 posts in 28 days. Is that a bit too much? Possibly. March will be a bit leaner, less flab.
February was also the month the media went creepy dominated by news of Rihanna, Chris Brown and Jade Goody. All very grim and depressing, at least Blur turned up right at the end to remind people how good the Summer festivals will be.
Originally for Gigwise.com
Passion Pit started the year as one of the most hyped bands around. Their euphoric blend of Flaming Lips style optimism, Hot Chip esque cute electronics and inventiveness akin to The Avalanches pricked numerous critics and taste makers ears and caused them to salivate profusely. The band, hailing from Cambridge, Massachusetts, arrived in the UK last week for their first ever shows outside their native America and were pleased at the level of interest being shown in them. “We played in Brighton last night with Bear Hands” says drummer Nate Donomoyer, “and it reminded us of our early shows in New York. People were dancing and moving even though they didn’t really know the songs too well, it was great.”
Having recorded the bands only EP over two years ago Passion Pit were able to sign a record deal with an album already written and waiting to be recorded. How though does a man who has written, performed, recorded and produced his debut EP give up creative control to his band mates and hired hands? “The album is very different in many ways to the EP; we all contributed in different ways to it. The trade off in control was working with a professional producer and an engineer. Mike still has lots of crazy ideas though, in one of the last weeks of recording he was talking about getting a kids choir singing on the album but it kind of came down to the last minute and we thought it wasn’t going to work out. Chris the producer though had seen this choir perform a Tori Amos cover a Capella and contacted the people that look after them, the next thing we knew there were all these kids in the studio singing the parts so it was pretty cool.” The album titled ‘Manners’ is due for release in mid May sometime and will only feature a remixed version of the single ‘Sleepyhead’ from the previous EP. “Passion Pit is an entirely different band right now to what it was even less than a year ago. Things have moved very quickly for us. As long as Michael’s voice stays the same we will always be the same Passion Pit people fell in love with but the band is a lot more organic than it was before, I play live drums on every song and there are guitars and drums on every song whereas the EP is entirely synthesised.”
Talk soon turns to last night’s show in Brighton (“I don’t know if it’s just people don’t know us here yet but nobody was moving very much, but then in Boston they fall over each other at our shows”) As Nate says Passion Pit are currently on the road with fellow hot new things Hockey and Bear Hands and when Gigwise catches up with him he is backstage at Camden’s Koko about to play with Esser and Black Kids, which begs the question what is the Passion Pit live show like? “There is something like six keyboards on stage and live drums so there are a lot of sound waves coming at you. It’s really about us getting involved in the music and expressing it physically. Hopefully people like it and can get into it.”
Following Nate’s thoughts on the hype surrounding Passion Pit (“We use it as a motivator, to try to be as good as the band we are expected to be) he goes on his way too play the bands first London date. Something tells us it will be the first of many.
Passion Pit@ Myspace
LINK
Florence and The Machine
As accessible as she is eccentric, flame haired Florence Welsh has 2009 there for the taking. Alongside her band The Machine she creates an unrestrained and uplifting melodramatic pop sound and boasts an astounding voice that will enamour all that come across it. Having already released two singles in 2008 (‘Kiss With A Fist’ and ‘Dog Days’) Florence will release her debut album in 2009 produced by Klaxons and Arctic Monkeys main man James Ford. As if to add more certainty to her impending success Florence will be opening the NME Awards tour in January and receive the Brit Award Critics Choice award in February. Trust us, this will be huge.
Passion Pit hail from Cambridge, Massachusetts and like MGMT look set to take eccentric-pop to a stratospheric popular level. Comprising elements of Prince and The Postal Service through Hot Chip and Flaming Lips Passion Pit are incredibly easy to fall in love with and to. The bands ‘Chunk Of Change’ EP hints at huge potential with tracks like ‘Sleepyhead’ and ‘I’ve Got Your Number’ transporting the listener to a far out state of magic and intergalactic wonder. Passion Pit tour in February with fellow Gigwise tips Hockey in a show not to be missed.
La Roux
Little Boots might get all the headlines in ’09 but we have a sneaky feeling La Roux will be making all the best beats. Hailing from Brixton, La Roux was originally set to be a singer/ songwriter (yawn) before a producer friend urged her to embrace the 80’s music she loved and make attention grabbing music. Doing exactly that pricked the ears of French dance gurus Kistune and they released the single ‘Quicksand’ in December. Her love for Human League and Blondie alongside The Knife and Chromeo is clear for all to hear. With a radio friendly pop aesthetic mixed with dancefloor ready tunes La Roux is a seriously cool contender.
Golden Silvers
This one could go either way. On the one hand Golden Silvers finely crafted sunny pop songs could break big in 2009 and soundtrack the Summer festival season and have Radio 1 on speed dial, on the other hand their lack of a guitars and off kilter outlook could see them bypassed by the record buying and see them side tracked like their brothers in arms Mystery Jets. Either way though Golden Silvers look set to make uplifting, life affirming music about young love and continue with their successful London club night Bronze.
Spinnerette
Brody Dalle, Ex-Distillers front woman and Mrs Josh Homme, has been frustratingly quiet for the past few years. All that will end in 2009 however when she returns with her new band Spinnerette. The bands sound is distinctly familiar to Distillers fans but more mature at the same time. Dalle’s rasping howl has been replaced by a smoother croon (though she assures fans the shriek will return after 6 months on the road). An albums worth of material has been written and recorded with QOTSA guitarist Alan Johannes including ‘Valium Knights’- an early stand out track.
White Lies, Hockey, Mumford and Sons, Temper Trap, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Twisted Wheel, Telepathe, Titus Andronicus, Sky Larkin, Filthy Dukes, Pulled Apart By Horses, Gold Teeth, Little Boots, Lady GaGa, Ox Eagle Lion Man, Baddies, Wet Paint, Flashguns, Three Trapped Tigers, Ipso Facto, Fan Death, Everything Everything.
LINK
Suprisingly the buzz band to emerge from the recent CMJ music conference did not hail from the alt.hit factory Brooklyn but from the far less fashionable Cambridge, Massachusetts. Passion Pit, a one man pop altruist, known to his friends as Michael Angelakos.
Taking clear but not derivative influence from the likes of Flaming Lips and Beck Passion Pit’s soulful slacker dream pop sounds as relevant as it does classic. ‘Sleepy Head’ pricks listeners attention with its early Kanye-esque high pitched vocals over the top of a pounding backdrop, the bands sound is so dense- layer upon layer of instruments create a smorgasbord of elements to pick up on. The sense of euphoria is strikingly obvious too, all the songs come with happiness strapped to every inch of their bodies. I’ve Got Your Number’s milk bottle top beats meanwhile paints Angelakos in a much darker light, still airy and poppy but with a hint of menace underpinning the lustful vocals. An easy comparison it may be but Passion Pit sounds not unlike The Postal Service in places. A melodic hazy electronic sound indebted to numerous genres and appealing to fans of all.
The only release thus far is an EP (‘Chunk Of Change’ via French Kiss) which was originally recorded as a Valentine’s Day present to Angelakos’ girlfriend which then prompted him to give it out to friends and fellow students at Emerson College. Angelakos wrote and recorded the entire record by himself and it only hints at what is to come from this extremely talented perfectionist. Currently touring the US as a live 5 piece Passion Pit have opened for, amongst others, These New Puritans and Death Cab For Cutie.
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