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I could go song by song and come to the same conclusion with pretty much each one: the dedication to this carefree whimsy of youth ultimately stands as the most impressive thing about Passion Pit, and it wears thin quickly.
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Refreshingly free of pretensions and convolutions it's full of well-written songs with melody and fun at its big heart.
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Poptimist Michael Angelakos tried to hold onto his girlfriend with Passion Pit's first EP. That didn't work (blame the self-obsessed lyrics), but on his band's debut full-length, their squeaky indie-pop theatrics are more convincing.
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Perhaps not as striking as it might have seemed 18 months ago, but still a debut album of distinction.
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After years of Boston's repping itself on the national stage with scally caps and mime make-up, the promising prospect of a blog-stoking, pant-tightening, fresh-making outfit like the Pit feels long overdue. The good news is, it sounds only slightly so.
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There are times when the album feels strangely medicated; the positivity, when heaped upon the listener in brutal doses, makes you feel trapped in one of those American self-help groups.
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Euphoric, feelgood electro-pop of the indie rather than chart-topping persuasion, with the Massachusetts quartet's debut substituting lost-boy yearning for outright hedonism.
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Not every song is perfect, but perfection is boring. What we need in these weary times--and what Passion Pit brings--is exuberance. Manners delivers the elusive feeling that everything will be alright. Or, just maybe, that everything already is.
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Despite an opening volley that suggests Ghandi himself would have felt the urge to tell Passion Pit to stop being so bloody silly come the end, it finds a slightly more meaningful note surprisingly soon.
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Thanks to the meticulous production values, the insane catchiness of the hooks, and the pure and true emotional underpinnings below all the gloss, the album is a total success of both sound and vision.
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Refreshed and uplifted. Those are two things that the best pop records leave you feeling, and that's definitely the end result of listening to Manners, the debut album from Passion Pit.
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Passion Pit's full-length debut proves he isn't fronting: It's a shiny bouquet of synth-pop roses, with perfumed Eighties keyboard whooshes and modern stutter beats crooking a finger toward the dance floor.
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just so happens that Passion Pit has released a gorgeous pop album in time for the warm weather, and while Manners would make a perfect soundtrack to any summer, you'll want to keep the best cuts around for far longer.
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Manners is deceptively consistent even beyond its singles--if you like one Passion Pit song, you'll probably like them all.
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there are many who will find this record torrentially annoying....But to many others, Manners will be a welcome zephyr of optimism ushering away the angst of epidemics and impending environmental oblivion.
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Manners attempts to synthesize Michael Angelakos’ natural talent for dance music with more straightforward, heart-on-sleeve rock, but can’t quite commit to either.
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While the midtempo tunes often venture into cheesy '80s-pop territory, the album's dense sound rewards repeat listens.
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It makes you want to dance, and it gets it hooks deep into, so much so that you might be humming the melodies to these songs mindlessly, before you even realize they’re Passion Pit.
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FilterI can already sense the love-it-or-leave-it polarization for listeners over Michael Angelakos's dizzying falsetto range, but one thing's for sure--it's a match for the far-out music he's making. [Spring 2009, p.97]
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On the whole, Manners mostly evens out into a consistently listenable experience, the joy of one absurdly successful track spread out in variations and reformulations across the entirety of an album with inevitable dilution in the process.
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For all its glossy, soul-searching schmaltz, the band’s full-length debut is a polished record full of consistently catchy hooks.
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MojoGone is the Fisher Price-redolent instrumentation and found--sounds, in their place something more measured and radio friendly. [Jun 2009, p.98]
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Q MagazineAt times--'Little Secrets,' despite its kiddie choir, 'The Reeling' and 'Moth's Wings'--it's a little too cloneishly Jake Shears for comfort. At other, though, they soar with MGMT-esque widescreen vitality. [Jun 2009, p.130]
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All I know for sure is that I’ve got two ears and a heart, and Manners sounds and feels pretty great.
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UncutManners is impressively slick and sparky but probably just a little too toothpaste fresh. [Jun 2009, p.93]
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Manners, the debut album from the Boston-based electro-pop outfit Passion Pit, is a charming combination of danceable synth grooves, falsetto shouts and infectious vocal hooks.
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Under The RadarPassion Pit's inclusive sound isn't afraid to take chances, and like that proverbial teenager, they aren't afraid of being caught by their mom home sicks with the flu. [Summer 2009, p.68]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 81 out of 87
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Mixed: 5 out of 87
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Negative: 1 out of 87
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May 14, 2018
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Nov 14, 2016
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Jul 13, 2012