Passion Pit played in Los Angeles for two consecutive nights with Cale Parks and Harlem Shakes. Excellent efforts on the two opening bands on both nights, but this is about the dance band of the summer.

Both shows, one at the tiny Troubadour in West Hollywood, and the other at the more appropriately-sized Echoplex in LA, were sold out for the mere price of $15 each. Because of buzz and the hype, tickets were going for $45-$65 each on Craigslist. The local scalper is living large this week.

This pretty much applies to both nights, but everyone is amped to dance and have a good time with their new favorite band. The boys of Passion Pit come out on stage, frontman Michael Angelakos is that friend you have in school that decided to grow a curly afro and a beard, one of the dudes has a McLovin quality to him, and the other keyboardist cast away to the side looks like he’s just lucky to be in a band.

In their short set, they play the best songs off their debut LP Manners, “Folds in Your Hands” and “Little Secrets”. The crowd goes crazy for the single “The Reeling” and blogger favorite “Sleepyhead”. The band has cleaned up and polished the tunes from their Chunk of Change EP. “I Got Your Number”, “Sleepyhead” and “Better Things” all have peppier disco feel to them. The crowd takes the place of the child choir, echoing and singing along “higher and higher” and “OH NO!” If you don’t focus on his voice constantly cracking, it is a really good time.

Angelakos is young, and fairly new, so his stage banter needs some work. Wait a few months, and that humbled and modest attitude they are sporting now will soon turn to snappy attitudes and flashier outfits. That is, if in a few months, Angelakos still has a voice. Auto-tune and production are his friends, because that dude is so pitchy. From time to time, you’ll see people giggle at his warble and whine; not hitting high notes, fading off. The music, though, is so heart-thumping and fun, that his screams go unnoticed, and the dancing continues.

The second night at the Echoplex was a bigger production with a video backdrop and lights, more distraction from his voice. The Echoplex show was more energetic and exciting. On both nights, they only played for fifty minutes. For those people that paid $50 for a ticket, that’s a dollar minute. Everyone had the idea that the smaller venue meant a better, more intimate performance, but really, it was kind of a lackluster show. The second night had more people, so more people to impress, and all in all, a better showing.

On the full-length debut Manners, Michael Angelakos appropriates and amplifies the elements that made Passion Pit’s Chunk of Change EP a success. He remains unabashedly loyal to his shrill voice, supplementing its high-pitched yelps with infectious pop hooks and relentless energy. Emerging last fall, Angelakos was just a sensitive northeastern frat-boy penning songs to his ex-girlfriend. The winter passes and he’s a boldly confident indie-star that records in fancy-studios with producer Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, The Walkmen), books back-up children’s choirs, and has the sessions covered by The FADER. Out of the dorm-room into the spotlight, indeed. “Look at me,” he declares on the Red Bull-infused lead single “The Reeling”. It’s vigor sets a precedent: Chunk of Change was meant for his girlfriend’s bedroom and Manners is meant for Times Square. “The Reeling” is an attention-grabbing (“here I am! Won’t someone understand?”) and self-absorbed affair, but one that is utterly awesome. As badly as I want to roll my eyes when he mutters something about his “confounding destiny,” the all-encompassing chorus immediately trumps my cynicism.

Though bigger is definitely the operative word in describing the shift from EP to LP for Passion Pit, his girlfriend remains a dominating topic. Themes of partnership and loyalty permeate Manners as he toys with grand language and convoluted metaphors. On “Little Secrets”, he talks about “outlining wet sidewalks in halogen” before the chorus’ proclamation: “no one needs to know we’re feeling higher and higher!” “Eyes As Candles” comes off as a total love anthem while the sing-a-long “na na na” chorus epitomizes his pop sensibilities. In other cases, it seems he’s just trying to come to grips with his new attention (“my world astir and sickly”).
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The seamless flow between tracks is a product of Zane’s experience and grants Manners a strong cohesion. The songs converse with one another and ultimately make Manners sound like the product of a full band realizing their own sound.

Or you’ll hate it …

Michael Angelakos’ shrill falsetto rambles worse than before. Firstly, he sings without direction or care. The helium-sucked screams on tracks like “To Kingdom Come” and “Little Secrets” aggravate more than appeal. Secondly, his saccharine lyrics reek of vague generalities and vacuous moralizing. “So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh just to prove I’m alive,” sings Angelakos on “Make Light”. The rest of the album is plagued in Angelakos’ self-absorbed pontifications of his purpose on this world: “everyday I lie awake and pray to God today’s the day.” Frankly, it’s hard to ever know what he’s talking about. (See: “that’s a frosty way to speak/ to tell me how to live next to your potpourri.”) Without care for syntax, grammar or general sense, his words flail amongst a cacophony of Atari-like noises and cookie-cutter pop structures.

Album launch pad “Make Light” picks up right where we left off. Angelakos shrieks unintelligible nothings like a prepubescent girl in the back seat of a long car ride. It’s truly cringe-worthy to hear Angelakos emulate Jackson 5 and belt out, “let this be our little secret/ no one needs to know we’re feeling/ higher and higher!” And Sweet Moses, is there actually a song called “Let Your Love Grow Tall”? And did he actually just affix the lyric “tall as the grass in the meadow?” to the song title? Worst is Angelakos’ self-victimizing when he boldly claims he want to “make light of my treacherous life.” Cry me a thousand rivers. “We’re swimming in a flood, you know?” No, I don’t. Chunk of Change was characterized by charmingly saccharine devotion, but Manners is full of obtuse nothings without ever being poetic.

Angelakos is putting the cart before horse. This album defines his artistic persona: an uninhibited and anxious grandstander, not unlike Brendan Flowers or Adam Levine. This is fine, if you have the hype to justify it, but Passion Pit doesn’t. Manners only confirms that “Sleepyhead” is still the best track.

Passion Pit have a whole lot to be excited about — they’re hitting the road in May, they’ve got their first full-length hitting the streets May 19 and they’re celebrating the whole thing on a boat. We’ve got the newest single from their upcoming LP, “Moth’s Wings,” and details about where you can catch them live.

Keeping in the trend of talking about bands for no reason except everyone keeps telling us we should care, Passion Pit is having a CD release party for Manners on Monday, May 18 as part of the Rocks Off Concert Cruise Series on board “The Temptress” in New York City. The album will be out May 19 via a joint release between Columbia and Frenchkiss Records. In the meantime, check out “Moth’s Wings” and their upcoming tour stops below.

Passion Pit – “Moth’s Wings”

Passion Pit on tour
05.23.09 – George, Wash. (Sasquatch! Music Festival)
05.24.09 – Portland, Ore. (Wonder Ballroom)
05.26.09 – San Francisco, Calif. (Bimbo’s)
05.28.09 – West Hollywood, Calif. (Troubadour)
05.29.09 – Los Angeles, Calif. (Echoplex)
05.30.09 – Pomona, Calif. (The Glass House)
06.02.09 – Dallas, Texas (Granada Theatre)
06.03.09 – Austin, Texas (Emo’s)
06.04.09 – Houston, Texas (Warehouse Live)
06.05.09 – Baton Rouge, La. (Spanish Moon)
06.06.09 – Atlanta, Ga. (The Drunken Unicorn)
06.08.09 – Richmond, Va. (The National)
06.09.09 – Washington, D.C. (Black Cat)
06.11.09 – Manchester, Tenn. (Bonnaroo)
06.13.09 – Covington, Ky. (Mad Hatter)
06.14.09 – Chicago Ill. (Empty Bottle)
06.17.09 – Buffalo, NY (Mohawk Place)
06.18.09 – Boston, Mass. (Paradise)
06.19.09 – New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom)
06.20.09 – New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom)

Looks like synth-pop Bostonites Passion Pit are taking this major label thing seriously. In preparing to follow up the hyped-up Chunk Of Change EP with the release of their first full length record, Manners, next month, the band has debuted the video for the lead single “The Reeling” on MTV.

Upon first listen “The Reeling” might not strike as much of a hook and catch as the groups’ more talked about single “Sleepyhead” from the EP, but with the aid of their cleverly crafted video, the new Passion Pit single has a unique appeal, that will keep you stimulated visually for the duration of the almost-five-minute song. The sound of the new single is broader, but the creative appeal behind the groups’ sound is still ringing freely through the track, and we’re sure that even if “The Reeling” doesn’t create as much of a stir as “Sleeyhead” did, the new Passion Pit album will still be streaming from our speakers.

Passion Pit – “The Reeling”

When he’s not busy being the best boyfriend in the world and writing endearingly catchy love-album’s for his girlfriend, Passion Pit front man Michael Angelakos is in the studio, busting out new tracks for their debut album Manners, which will be released May 19 in the U.S. on Frenchkiss and May 18 on Columbia everywhere else. Until then, we’re have to make due with the pretty darn stellar Chunk of Change EP and new single “The Reeling” which is currently streaming on their MySpace Page.

“The Reeling” sounds notably grander than the E.P. (as is no surprise considering the mass studio effort going into Manners) but retains Angelakos high-pitched falsetto and bubbly-pop inclinations. It’s a high-pitched, Red Bull-infused, uber-energetic affair that sees Angelakos so excitable yapping “Is this the way I’ll always be?” as a children’s choir responds “Oh no!” It’s both catchy and irritating.

On an more frustrating note (and only perpetuating the recent Canada vs U.S. divide further), Passion Pit have cancelled their originally postponed Canadian tour citing “personal medical issues”. Guess I’ll have to wait longer before I’m harmonizing to “Sleepyhead”.

Passion Pit:

05.23.09  - George, WA (Sasquatch! Music Festival)
05.24.09  - Portland, OR (Wonder Ballroom)
05.26.09  - San Francisco, CA (Bimbo’s)
05.28.09  - West Hollywood, CA (Troubadour)
05.29.09  - Los Angeles, CA (Echoplex)
05.30.09  - Pomona, CA (The Glass House)
06.02.09  - Dallas, TX (Granada Theatre)
06.03.09  - Austin, TX (Emo’s)
06.04.09  - Houston, TX (Warehouse Live)
06.05.09  - Baton Rouge, LA (Spanish Moon)
06.06.09  - Atlanta, GA (The Drunken Unicorn)
06.08.09 – Richmond, VA (The National)
06.09.09  - Washington, DC  (Black Cat)
06.11.09  - Manchester, TN (Bonnaroo)
06.13.09 – Covington, KY (Mad Hatter)
06.14.09  - Chicago IL (Empty Bottle)
06.17.09 – Buffalo, NY (Mohawk Place)
06.18.09 – Boston, MA (Paradise)
06.19.09 – New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom)
06.20.09 – New York, NY (Bowery Ballroom)

Following up on their industry-acclaimed EP Chunk of Change, Passion Pit is releasing their first full-length album, Manners, this upcoming May. We already know they’ve taken a page out of Columbia Records label mates Peter Bjorn and John’s handbook and enlisted a bunch of school kids for one of the singles, so this time around we’re assuming the album isn’t just another belated Valentine’s Day present made for Michael Angelakos’ girlfriend.

While reports have been semi-conflicting (e-mails out of Gigantic Studios where they recorded Manners have mentioned Columbia Records as the home of the release, and press agents at the Columbia U.S. offices have been name dropping their recent signing) Manners is apparently due out on Frenchkiss in the U.S. on May 26, and the UK release will be eight days prior on Columbia Records proper, May 18. Along with the new album, the Massachusetts band is going to be touring like crazy in both North America and Europe, with the inevitable stint at SxSW.

Manners track listing
01. Make Light
02. Little Secrets
03. Moth’s Wings
04. The Reeling
05. Eyes as Candles
06. Swimming in the Flood
07. Folds in Your Hands
08. To Kingdom Come
09. Sleepyhead
10. Let Your Love Grow Tall
11. Seaweed Song