Passion Pit's third album Kindred fails to arouse the lugholes
The self-styled indietronica Passion Pit releases third studio album, Kindred, on 21 April (Columbia Records). Does this secure the death of indie pop?
According to Wikipedia, the Massachusetts based singer got the inspiration for his unusual stage name from the slang term for drive-in theatres. Also, solo member, Michael Angelakos, wrote the first EP as a belated Valentine's Day present to his ex-girlfriend. I assume she wasn't impressed, hence the ex bit. This is probably about the most interesting thing about Passion Pit.
The album was announced on social media in 2014 and since then, a series of Morse code images were released to build up the excitement for the album. Before the huge marketing push that relaunched the website, which had been under construction since 2013. I'm not going to lie; the album and website artwork gives me the willies. And not having served in the Navy, I have no idea if the Morse code is relevant or just a gimmick.
I should really end the review here, as there's not much else to say about the latest album. It's forgettable and not particularly inspiring. There are no stand-out tracks, no killer hooks and no emotive choruses. It's basically credible Muzak.
The lead track, Lifted Up (1985) is a happy-clappy, pretty, tinkley track. The high-pitched vocals make it indecipherable. It sounds like he might've loved life in 1985. And I have to agree. I was 5, so I was watching Dungeons And Dragons, eating pate sandwiches (true, fact) and producing some of my best literary works. This was the only thing this song managed to evoke, a memory of a maisonette in Acton, London and nothing else.
I'm guessing from the subsequent 9 tracks on the album, which follow a similar formula, Angelakos is harking back to an idyllic childhood. Tracks like the delightfully innocent Where The Sky Hangs (which sounds like a lullaby) or the sweetly nostalgic My Brother Taught Me How To Swim, were balanced out by slightly more melancholic tracks like Dancing On The Grave and Looks Like Rain. Despite the titles, the tracks were decidedly similar - they merged one into another effortlessly and it's almost completely negligible.
Other muso journos talk about how this album is unusually happy for Passion Pit, whose battle with bi-polar disorder manifests in his art. However, I felt a tinge (only a tinge, I am dead inside) of sadness for him. This ode to a more innocent, carefree time seemed to be a desperate cry from someone looking back, as looking forward is hopeless.
Passion Pit is sort of, you know, cool. I've heard people (mostly American) talk about him like he's tapped into an underground, hipster, counter culture type thing. They're hugely popular across the pond, apparently you can't watch an American TV show without one of his tracks popping up. However, I think that's largely down to the fact that the US doesn't really have indie/alternative scene and Angelakos' indie cuteness.
However, if this is what counter culture is like, we're fucked. It's a shame that someone with so much to say can't say it in a way that resonates. Someone who feels so extremely can't articulate it in a way that emotes. It's derivative, boring, done-before, etc. Had this album been released during the indie dance Zeitgeist, it probably would've landed better with the British public, instead of being received like a deflated balloon.
We don't like our tracks sickly sweet, full of tinkles and upbeat keys. And we certainly don't like tracks that you forget while still listening to them. In fact, the only innovative thing about Passion Pit's latest offering are the creepy, on-loop, head-shot videos, but even this gets old very quickly.
First published on 25/04/2015
According to Wikipedia, the Massachusetts based singer got the inspiration for his unusual stage name from the slang term for drive-in theatres. Also, solo member, Michael Angelakos, wrote the first EP as a belated Valentine's Day present to his ex-girlfriend. I assume she wasn't impressed, hence the ex bit. This is probably about the most interesting thing about Passion Pit.
The album was announced on social media in 2014 and since then, a series of Morse code images were released to build up the excitement for the album. Before the huge marketing push that relaunched the website, which had been under construction since 2013. I'm not going to lie; the album and website artwork gives me the willies. And not having served in the Navy, I have no idea if the Morse code is relevant or just a gimmick.
I should really end the review here, as there's not much else to say about the latest album. It's forgettable and not particularly inspiring. There are no stand-out tracks, no killer hooks and no emotive choruses. It's basically credible Muzak.
The lead track, Lifted Up (1985) is a happy-clappy, pretty, tinkley track. The high-pitched vocals make it indecipherable. It sounds like he might've loved life in 1985. And I have to agree. I was 5, so I was watching Dungeons And Dragons, eating pate sandwiches (true, fact) and producing some of my best literary works. This was the only thing this song managed to evoke, a memory of a maisonette in Acton, London and nothing else.
I'm guessing from the subsequent 9 tracks on the album, which follow a similar formula, Angelakos is harking back to an idyllic childhood. Tracks like the delightfully innocent Where The Sky Hangs (which sounds like a lullaby) or the sweetly nostalgic My Brother Taught Me How To Swim, were balanced out by slightly more melancholic tracks like Dancing On The Grave and Looks Like Rain. Despite the titles, the tracks were decidedly similar - they merged one into another effortlessly and it's almost completely negligible.
Other muso journos talk about how this album is unusually happy for Passion Pit, whose battle with bi-polar disorder manifests in his art. However, I felt a tinge (only a tinge, I am dead inside) of sadness for him. This ode to a more innocent, carefree time seemed to be a desperate cry from someone looking back, as looking forward is hopeless.
Passion Pit is sort of, you know, cool. I've heard people (mostly American) talk about him like he's tapped into an underground, hipster, counter culture type thing. They're hugely popular across the pond, apparently you can't watch an American TV show without one of his tracks popping up. However, I think that's largely down to the fact that the US doesn't really have indie/alternative scene and Angelakos' indie cuteness.
However, if this is what counter culture is like, we're fucked. It's a shame that someone with so much to say can't say it in a way that resonates. Someone who feels so extremely can't articulate it in a way that emotes. It's derivative, boring, done-before, etc. Had this album been released during the indie dance Zeitgeist, it probably would've landed better with the British public, instead of being received like a deflated balloon.
We don't like our tracks sickly sweet, full of tinkles and upbeat keys. And we certainly don't like tracks that you forget while still listening to them. In fact, the only innovative thing about Passion Pit's latest offering are the creepy, on-loop, head-shot videos, but even this gets old very quickly.
First published on 25/04/2015
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