Track Listing

1. Make Light
2. Little Secrets
3. Moth's Wings
4. Reeling, The
5. Eyes As Candles
6. Swimming In The Flood
7. Folds In Your Hands
8. To Kingdom Come
9. Sleepyhead
10. Let Your Love Grow Tall
11. Seaweed Song

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #340 in Music
• Released on: 2009-05-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

CD Description
Following the success of their 'Chunk Of Change' EP, 'Manners' is the debut full-length release from Massachusetts based five-piece Passion Pit. While 'Chunk Of Change' featured tracks recorded on a laptop, giving it a lo-fi personal feel,the album sees the band head into the studio and come out with a polished set of dancefloor friendly tracks. Keeping the mix of glitchy samples, falsetto vocals and summery, feel good tunes 'Manners' manages to build on the charm of their quirky debut EP.

Customer Reviews

Lap-Top Rock :-)
I came across Passion Pit via The Mummers who do a wonderful version of 'Sleepyhead'. I thought that was so good, I searched out more of Passion Pit's stuff on YouTube and ordered the CD.

So - was it worth the risk? Oh yes, I think so. Apparently the EP Chunk of Change was first recorded on a laptop. So, it kind of fits in with that lovely sort of home-made feel like Animal Collective. But the album benefits from a full studio.

It's great - it's really happy, fun music. It does have a rather 70s Supertramp feel to it - the vocals are definitely reminiscent of Supertramp, but in places it gets quite 70's funky as well, although most of the tracks have a heavy 4/4 beat.

The sleeve notes consist of the lyrics - they're all a bit hippy-trippy:

'When I came down the dawn poured into me
I shook 'em up the walls came crumbling
My thin skin trembling with these salty wounds
My stolen gold inside the emperor's tomb
Now painting rainbows on my ugly face'.

Er, right. I think Jon Anderson would be quite at home with some of these! Still, those lyrics come from the second track 'Little Secrets' which is a really funky track with a chorus of 'Higher, higher, higher'.

Then 'Moth's Wings' starts with mandolins, before the piano and heavy 4/4 beat comes in again.

'The Reeling' reminded me of 'Tempovision' which, admittedly, isn't very 70s. Again, it's a really funky, heavy synth sound, but with a thumping 4/4 beat.

'Swimming In The Flood' is a down tempo ballad, but with heavy percussion right up front.

'Folds In Your Hands' - vocal harmonies, thumping synth, funky, happy pop music.

'To Kingdom Come' starts with a nice guitar riff, then the heavy percussion thumps in, gentle synth and vocals and, curiously, a horn section (well, probably a synth).

Then 'Sleepyhead', which is just a lovely, silly, happy, daft song, backing vocals by Alvin And The Chipmunks, well, sounds like.

Overall, then, a sort of retro-electro-pop and above all happy sound. Definitely 70s inspired - but please don't let that put you off! There's some good stuff here :-)

Perfect Manners
Well here's a cracking little album and make no mistake !
Light and breezy and cute as a button.
Music to make you smile ( ... and goodness knows we could
all do with a bit of cheering up these days ).

Mr Angelakos and his band of merry men deliver eleven
fine tracks on 'Manners', their first full-length studio outing.

A blissful liaison between electronica and pure pop sensibility.
Strong melodies, dance-friendly rhythms and exuberant energy aplenty.
Everything seems deftly placed exactly where it should be.

Mr A's falsetto is a remarkable instrument. It's the real deal; he doesn't
struggle for a moment with those stratospherically high top notes.
It is entirely suited to the somewhat febrile nature of the compositional style.

So much to enjoy !

Opening track 'Make Light' kicks things off to a very fine start.
A blissed-out, uplifting and totally infectious idea, artfully realised.

So too 'Little Secrets', solid as a rock and brimful of sunshine.
The kids' choral commentary is an inspired inclusion.

Other highlights include 'Moth's Wings', a gorgeous tune whose soaring
central vocal and complex harmonic additions is curiously affecting.

If we hear many more songs as lovely as 'Eyes As Candles' this year
I will be very surprised indeed. Truly beautiful !
'Seaweed Song', winding the album up, comes a very close second.

Messrs Angelakos, Hultquist, Al Adhamy, Apruzzese and Donmoyer
should be warmly congratulated for this sterling effort.
They can be justifiably proud of all they have given us here.

It feels like a gift.

Unmissable.

The perfect follow up to Chunk of Change
Chunk of Change EP was the best EP I have ever listened to. It was unique, beautiful and creative. Whilst the lyrics were often bordering on sickly sweet they complemented the music so well and in the end you just couldn't help yourself but to smile.

Now after bringing together a full band and using instruments instead of a laptop we have Manners. And as my title suggests it is the perfect follow up. After first hearing The Reeling I knew I was in for a treat. Manners continues the synth driven sounds of the EP but adds much more depth, such as the use of other instruments aswell as childrens choir singing. These create at times avery different feel to the album. After my first listen I was happy that they pulled off such a great album and was in such a happy mood because the music itself on the whole is so cheery. Second listen though, the album seemed to expand, when closely listening to the lyrics you realise a slightly darker feel to them, plus songs like Swimming in the Flood and Seaweed stand out as being somethign very different. This is not to say that this makes Manners worse, quite the opposite, as they have shown that they can make an array of synth driven songs that impress on many levels. Also when I saw Sleepyhead was to be included I wondered if they would re-record it to match the theme of the new record, I was pleased to find that they had, whilst it is still essentially the same song, the differences are noticable. Whether it is better or not depends on the listener.

Overall a wodnerful album, the best so far of this year and one of the best albums I have listened to, I know it might seem it bit early to say this, but when an album is able to capture the same magic as Chunk of Chnage and also sounds unique and natural.