Music Review: Passion Pit brings electronica to a new light

Utilizing a catchy synthesizer, two keyboardists, a bass guitar, drums, and vocals by Michael Angelakos; Passion Pit has released one full studio album and one EP. Ranging from very light and swift to very mellow and slow paced, Passion Pit brings electronica to a more popular and broad style that allows for many people who are into different genres of music to enjoy variety ranging from rock to rap, even to choir music. The band’s newest album, labeled Manners, uses all previously stated genres to create a symphony of unique sounds. Manners came out in 2009 and has been widely successful for the group from Cambridge, Massachusetts. This album consists of eleven original tracks along with three extended songs which in total last about forty-five minutes. The album garnered positive response from a variety of reviewers and The Rolling Stone Magazine. Clash Magazine even gave the album a 9/10.

The band, though only two years old, has already made many changes to their roster. The band began with just Michael Angelakos, who wrote his first songs on his laptop as a belated Valentine’s Day gift to his then-girlfriend. Soon after, Ian Hultquist approached Angelakos and suggested that they work on music collaboratively. Ayad Adhamy, Thom Plasse, and Adam Lavinsky followed Hultquist. Unfortunately, Plasse and Lavinsky were replaced by Jeff Apruzzese and Nate Donmoyer respectively once the band was signed to the recording company Frenchkiss in 2008.

What is a Passion Pit? A Passion Pit, according to the Variety Slangage Dictionary, is a drive-in movie theater. Why did Passion Pit choose this name for their band? They, like drive-in movie theaters, value romantic allure and privacy. Overall, Passion Pit is a great band that everyone can enjoy. They change their sound up between every album, they are based upon impressing loved ones, and they utilize many different genres of music to appeal to many different types of audiences.