Customer Reviews

Manners

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Apparently Passion Pit's EP Chunk of Change generated quite a buzz last year. If so, it never reached me. I generally rely on chance and exploration to find new music to listen to. The radio is useless for that, even in my university town. And I don't run in any musical circles.

So, I'd never heard of these guys before, oh, an hour ago. Amazon had the brand new LP on sale for only $2.99. Consider this an untainted review from an outsider, based on first impressions.

This album will surely appeal to fans of The Postal Service. That's because it has a mostly synth sound, a light feel, and vocals in the upper male range. However, Michael Angelakos' voice is shrill and chorused where Ben Gibbard's is soft and tends to stand alone. Another difference is that Passion Pit uses a more traditional "umms-tat umms-tat umms-tat" club drum track, where The Postal Service employs more experimental beats.

Yeah, I called Angelakos shrill. I think he may have banshee blood somewhere in his ancestry. This is especially noticeable on the first track, "Make Light." Maybe its that I'm sleep deprived and easily annoyed, but I couldn't make myself finish that one.

Fortunately, the vocals even out a little as the album goes on. By the time the slow jam "Swimming in the Flood" hits, Angelakos just about convinces me that he can sing.

"Make Light" aside, the album is quite good. "Little Secrets" and "Folds in Your Hands" are sufficiently dancy and 80s enough to attract followers of Cut Copy's excellent In Ghost Colours and Chromeo's Fancy Footwork.

Stand-out tracks are probably "Sleepyhead" and "Little Secrets." The former because it showcases Angelakos' shrillness at its somehow most effective. The latter because of its use of a really triumphant and grinding pad line, fuzzy bass backing, and a strong snare drum.

Uplifting, often pretty, and upbeat, Passion Pit's Manners hits many correct notes with its electronic indie and synth instrument approach. It's going to take me a little longer to focus on the lyrics. This is the kind of music where you don't have to pay attention to enjoy it, but I get the impression there is some depth.

For $2.99 or full price, Manners is worth picking up.

wow. good stuff. mgmt-esque, disco-inflected indie electronica pop. wasn't expecting much from this. i was wrong. does not disappoint. the vocals take it to a higher level than mgmt's music. catchy, well written music and lyrics. you thought sleepyhead was good... this is kinda better

I'm probably not adding very much to the discussion of this album, but Passion Pit fall in line with other popular electro-pop/indie dance/callitwhatyouwill groups such as MGMT. They produce upbeat, fun music with some pretty awesome samples. The best tracks on the album are clearly The Reeling and Sleepyhead, the latter of which was also featured in Passion Pit's 2008 EP Chunk of Change. I think that for this type of music the clips probably do the songs decent justice, but if you're not sure yet maybe get those two tracks and go from there. If you like this album some other acts you should probably check out are: Miike Snow, Discovery, Hot Chip, and Starf****r.

I first heard this band on Australia's Triple J and yet again I'm discovering an American band by listening to Aussie public radio (Shame on you American radio). Manners was Triple J's featured CD last week and by week's end I couldn't wait for the stateside release!

I would characterize the music as dense, synth driven tracks humanized with melodic high octave vocals and I would have paid $10 but $2.99 to download the entire CD is a steal! My personal favorite: Seaweed Song. Enjoy!

Excellent production, great sound quality and also very catchy. Things get a bit same-ish after a while, though. I love the first track. Putting on this album is like jumping into a pool of warm water!

I think I could have liked this album if I could bear listening to it. By that I mean that whoever "mastered" it must not have ever listened to anything without the loudness button turned on. Clipped highs, rampant distortion, no dynamic range, it sounds like a low bitrate MP3 album hobbled together on someone's laptop. I'll give this album another listen the next time I feel like damaging my speakers. Recording artists and the music industry need to realize that just because people like the convenience of digital downloads doesn't mean we're willing to give up decent production quality.