Passion Pit - Chunk of Change (EP)

It’s not very often that I get overly excited about music these days, as I seem to spend every waking minute of my day listening to some musical form or another. Whilst driving in my car the other day listening to the radio, a song came on that made me stop and listen. It was reminiscent of some of the old work of The Avalanches, mixing quirky samples of an old Gaelic song with live vocal overlays and just the right about of dance. As this epic track came to an end, I found myself wishing that this song would just keep going on forever, as silly as that may sound. The radio presenter soon informed me that track Sleepyhead was the work of Passion Pit, a five-piece hailing from Boston, Massachusetts that have landed themselves on BBC’s ‘Sound of 2009’ list. So when rather coincidentally the opportunity arose the following week for me to review their new Chunk of Change EP, I jumped at the chance. When my eagerly awaited package arrived in the mail, I ran upstairs and practically threw the disc into my CD player and pushed ‘play’…

The opening track to the EP, I’ve Got Your Number starts off on a promising note, with its synchronized clapping holding the steady beat behind an assortment of synthesized sounds. Singer Michael Angelakos’ eerie screaming vocals haunt the chorus, his use of desperate, emotion-driven falsetto much in the same vein as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah or TV on the Radio, whilst more timid melancholic vocal work accompany verses. At just over six minutes in length, this is the longest song on the EP, though not without justification. It sets a high standard for what is to come.

Unfortunately, the subsequent few tracks don’t quite follow suit. After a few more listens, I do begin to warm to them, yet they still sound more like fluffy filler material than what I am sure these boys are capable of producing. Second up, quick-paced electronically produced drums seemingly draws influences from the likes of The Postal Service, coupled with delicate, echoey vocals throughout Smile Upon Me. Funk electronica beats and keys are met by Angelakos’ pitchy vocal attempts as the group takes on a MGMT-esque sound in third track Cuddle Fuddle, falling somewhat short. And Live to Tell the Tale is no better. This was where I had all but lost interest.

Surprisingly though, Passion Pit quickly redeem themselves fifth track in. As the name suggests, Better Things are promised as a young boy introduces the song with ‘this will be our best song that you have ever heard’. And so I continue to listen. It is certainly the best song I have heard so far on Chunk of Change. Keyboard and synth drenched sounds make for a quirky dance track that will have you tapping your feet. And then comes Sleepyhead, the aforementioned song that has been on high rotation over our airwaves of late. While the latter two are indisputably the EP’s stronger numbers, they come a little too late – most would have lost interest and turned off the music by this stage.

While I am not entirely convinced by this debut EP, the boys do show promise. Their forthcoming LP, due out later this year, will inevitably be the decider.

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