Chunk Of Change - Passion Pit

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	A brief look into Passion Pit's distinctive sound
Disadvantages:	Only 6 songs, probably cheaper to download individually than buy the album

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Passion Pit are an indie electro band from the USA and were originally formed in 2007. The name of the band actually comes from when lead singer Michael Angelakos made some demo songs for his then girlfriend entitled 'Passion Pit' and in turn the songs made their way around the university campus and became reasonably popular with the residents! As the group performed those few songs, their popularity grew in Angelakos' home town of Buffalo which then spread to the rest of the bands home town of Boston. This EP was eventually released into the mainstream in September 2008 with the original 4 tracks being part of the valentines day gift the lead singer gave to his girlfriend plus 2 extra songs made by the band.

SOUND

The sound of passion pit i would say resemble that of Hot Chip, an electro / indie based background with catchy hooks. The drum programming can sometimes tend to be a little experimental but with the electronics, keyboards and Angelakos' distinctive high pitch wailing type voice, the whole thing comes together nicely to make an interesting left field sound.

I have to admit, it did take a few listens to actually understand and apprechiate their sound but im glad i continued to listen. The popularity of their sound has been noticed and been used on various TV adverts and shows

BAND

The band are made up of 5 guys who look distinctively like down and out students, quite a good look actually for an up and coming band.

Michael Angelakos (lead vocals and keyboards)
Ayad Al Adhamy (synth and samples)
Ian Hultquist (keyboards and guitar)
Nate Donmoyer (drums)
Jeff Apruzzese (bass)

TRACKS

1 - Ive Got Your Number
This track has the sound of a jam session with various percussionists and doesnt particularly strike you as something that would work commercially but it has been used by O2 in their magic with cash manager advert, you know the one, where the magician flicks the coin and produces many magic tricks in front of your eyes including a t shirt and a card. Lyrics again dont fill you full of hope ('Have you seen me cry tears like diamonds') but the innocent sounding production shows a light at the end of the tunnel. Addictive

2 - Smile Upon Me
A good upbeat track which provides the listener with lyrics of a better time in the lead singers relationship. These are messages from one person to another and we are being allowed to hear these. Another good instalment on this EP

3 - Cuddle Fuddle
A tale of forgiveness, it makes you wonder what Angelakos actually did to hurt his girlfriend (if anything) but not a bad track this. Took a while to get used to but a solid filler on the EP

4 - Live To Tell The Tale
Bit of a strange one this with the quality dropping slighly. More uplifting lyrics over average production, probably one to pass on

5 - Better Things
This in my opinion was the reason why i started listening to Passion Pit in the first place, originally found on youtube, i was so hooked on this track and i was lucky enough to get this on the EP. After a brief child intro stating this will be the best song you will ever hear, it explodes into life with a brilliant hook and simple production. Up beat and happy sounding although the lyrics tell a different story 'Youre gonna drive me crazy, youre gonna drive me mad' - Brilliant track

6 - Sleepyhead
This is the only track to appear on the debut album, Manners, and is a journey which builds you up similar to the way a house or trance tune throws that big baseline at you, this however is a little 'nicer' for want of a better word with a poppy ish feel! This was released as a single but failed to chart. You may have heard the instrumental being played during channel 5's comedy season on various film trailers.

OVERALL

This geeky 5 piece band provide you with some very listenable and catchy tunes that keep the revival of electronic music alive. Some of the hooks are simply brilliant on here and maybe did not get the recognition or publicity it deserved. We are given brief glimpes of light at the end of the tunnel mixed in with heavy relationship issues including guilt and paranoia. The EP contains probably one of the fans favourites in Sleepyhead and provides distinctive high pitched vocals which dig into your brain and say remember me remember me!

I was pleased with this purchase but its definately not everyones cup of tea. I recently went to see them live at Koko in Camden and they put on a good live show. Hope you enjoyed reading, live the dream