Childlike Manners shows some maturity

The group has branched out enough not to drive the listener insane.

By Alex McElvain

Published May 5, 2009

Passion Pit, the Boston-based band whose breakout EP was famously recorded as a late Valentine's Day gift for frontman Michael Angelakos, features a very childlike sonic quality.

From the band's original online self-profile: "Do you remember how pure, how beautiful everything looked outside that night, the snowflakes caught in floodlight against the black of the sky? And that girl -- what was her name -- how gorgeous she looked in that weird white sweatshirt with all that fake sparkly stuff in her hair? It was NOW, right now, and there wasn't anything else but now."

That EP, Chunk of Change, was marked by the same innocence, the same desire for instant gratification to which that nostalgic description alludes. Fast-paced, wholly electronic drum rhythms supported the beautifully catchy synth melodies that rarely "went anywhere," content to simply exist in their verse-chorus-verse euphoria like a preschooler swinging back and forth on a playground set.

But their forthcoming album, Manners, runs twice as long, and as anyone who's babysat or had a child of their own can attest, kids are typically only fun for so long. Eventually, their superhuman manic energy takes its toll on anyone too old to be worried about cooties. Chunk of Change got around this issue by offering less than half an hour of unrelenting up tempo, upbeat dance tracks. At a few more songs, the album would have become tiring.

Fortunately, just as children mature, so do songwriters. Since the conception of that EP, Passion Pit became a full band, meaning Angelakos has learned to incorporate sonic elements beyond his favorite keyboard presets. An expanded budget -- as with many blog-hyped, indie bands -- means an expanded aural palate beyond live drums and guitar. Horns, strings, and even a children's choir make an appearance.

More importantly, Angelakos has also learned to vary his song structure. Lead-off single "The Reeling" benefits from the left turn its bridge takes into electronic keyboard, chromatic fuzz-bass territory. "Little Secret," also an album highlight, includes a pre-chorus and a bass break that turns into to a big beat drum fill before returning to the songs verse. "Swimming in the Flood," one of two tracks to receive the orchestral treatment, has so much universal appeal it could be a Coldplay song.

Lyrically, not much has changed -- Angelakos still trades nostalgic vagaries that come off something like At the Drive-In minus the technical jargon but plus a middle-school crush.

Overall, Manners works best when it mixes innovation with guitar-sample melody in "Moth's Wings," 808 drum snare against a children's chorus on "Little Secret" and an orchestra against a synthetic bass line in "Swimming in the Flood." Like children, Manners can be obnoxious at times -- "Folds In Your Hands" and "Make Light" are otherwise harmless clunkers made irritating by Angelakos unrelenting falsetto -- but, in the end, its charm and precociousness outweighs its difficult moments.