PASSION PIT PARTY, EDGE, P. 19
Passion Pit blooms on 10th anniversary of revelatory album
When Passion Pit’s debut LP, “Manners,” came out in 2009, it felt like a revelation. Band mastermind Michael Angelakos delivered a one-two combo of absurdly catchy pop and deep layers of synthesizer blips, programmed beats, live drums and piledup vocals. But, to be fair, a lot of records from new indie electropop acts felt like revelations back then.
A decade ago, “Manners” boomed out of Boston but could have been lost in a sea of music just right for dancing
and thinking (see MGMT, La Roux, Phoenix). Instead, it shined then and has become a classic now. Even Angelakos agrees. “It took some time for me to come around to the record and not think of it as this disturbing or traumatic record to make,” the Emerson alum said ahead of Passion Pit’s sold-out show Thursday at House of Blues. “Now I listen back and think, ‘I was 20 or 21 and making a record with orchestra, a horn section, a children’s choir, 18 vocals stacked on top of each other in the right ear and another 18 in the left ear.’ You always hear the thing you want to perfect, but you have to let go of that a little and enjoy the record.”
Angelakos got back into “Manners” so much, the current tour celebrates the 10th anniversary of the release. But when the album came out, the singer-songwriter-producer didn’t have much time to consider his minor masterpiece. In five years, his band went from playing Allston club Great Scott to packing thousands into Agganis Arena and venues around the world. Suddenly, hip shops from Boston to London to Madrid pumped Passion Pit over their PAs, tapping into the band’s global cool.
“It happened a bit too quickly,” Angelakos said. “I had no idea what was happening, but I tried to play the part. Every artist tries to put on this confident persona that they are completely in control. Looking back at those interviews, I could hear what I was talking about change from interview to interview. I was just faking it as I went along.
“I am still getting out of that mindset of two years on the road, then six months off, then a year in the studio, then do it again,” he added. “I needed to (slow down to) remember where I came from and why I do what I do before the next project.”
Angelakos feels much better these days — he says, “My 20s were such a mess, but I love being in my 30s.” He still doesn’t love the industry. He thinks it isn’t an artist-friendly one. But he likes this middle ground he’s landed in, somewhere between superstar and underground act.
“I achieved a place in the industry that is kind of perfect,” he said. “This tour is mostly sold out and so was the last one, and without even a PR push. It’s a bit liberating. I am at a point where I can go several different places, and I like I don’t know where exactly I will end going.”