Passion Pit, an electronic indie band from Cambridge, Mass., released their third studio album on Tuesday. Led mainly by frontman Michael Angelakos, the band also consists of Jeff Apruzzese on bass and synth bass and drummer Chris Hartz.
The band started in 2007, and their sound consists of shining, high-pitched vocals, catchy synth lines and generally standard percussion. Underlying Passion Pit’s sweet, happy sound are lyrics which are often dark or depressing, touching on subjects like substance abuse and mental illness.
Their debut album in 2009, recorded after a four-track EP that Angelakos made for his girlfriend at the time, brought Passion Pit almost immediately into the spotlight. Marked by catchy hooks and clever songwriting, Manners was praised by music fans and critics alike.
In 2012, Passion Pit released their second LP, entitled Gossamer. Strong singles released before this album blended fluidly into the dense yet accessible musical release. The presence of diverse styles and the intelligence Angelakos displayed on this sophomore album showed not only a growth in his songwriting, but also in his willingness to explore and take risks musically.
However, the desire to experiment that made Gossamer such a strong album is notably absent from the band’s latest release.
In an interview with Pitchfork earlier this year, Angelakos opened up about his troubles with addiction and bipolar disorder.
While his other releases delved into the complicated emotions and experiences surrounding these problems and tried to connect with those who similarly have been affected by these issues, Kindred solely attempts to convey a feeling of genuine happiness across each track on the album.
While this in itself is not a bad goal to reach for musically, the weakness of this album lies in the fact that Angelakos seems to have abandoned his desire to evolve as a musician. As a result of this new artistic view, the album as a whole fails to reach its potenital musical depth.
Kindred is marked by weak, repetitive choruses and musical simplicity both in the instrumentals and in the lack of any unique sounds across the album. The entirety of the album feels like Passion Pit’s earlier sound simply recycled into tracks that feel thoroughly disingenuous.
The opening track, the first single released off the album titled “Lifted Up (1985),” is arguably the strongest song on the whole album. It has sharp vocals and a ridiculously catchy hook, but it still lacks any other attention-grabbing appeal. The synth and bass lines are overly simplistic and barely change throughout the course of the song.
In addition, another song on the album, titled “All I Want,” mimics the uninspired pop styles of an early Vampire Weekend. It features rolling drums and a catchy synth whistle, but it offers nothing more than the chorus, which becomes tedious after being repeated five times across the song.
“Five Foot Ten (I)” has spotty, glitchy synths which sound like they were pulled directly off of a Discovery album. While this is an appealing part of the song, the chorus is so weak and uninspired that it brings down the entire track. It is exhausting to listen to, even at barely under five minutes.
Across Kindred, which at 38 minutes is the shortest LP yet, Passion Pit maintains their iconic sweet, catchy vocals, giving the album a bright vibe. However, on this album, even when the lyrics have something important to say, they are padded with constant repetition until the tagline of the song is burned into your head.
In an interview with Pitchfork earlier this year, Angelakos said about Kindred: “It’s pop. I’m not trying to make any other statements.” On this point, at least, Angelakos has succeeded. With this album, Passion Pit has not done anything noteworthy besides add 10 more songs to the already large pool of formulaic pop.
Kindred is Passion Pit’s least ambitious release yet. Although it has a few catchy tracks, the album as a whole is little more than recycled sounds and played-out melodies. A lackluster release and a disappointing third album, Kindred is as unmemorable as it is uninspired.
Despite the lack of musical growth displayed in this latest album, Passion Pit fans can still choose to see the band’s live tour. Passion Pit takes their North American tour to the greater Baltimore area on May 5 and 6. They will be performing at the 9:30 Club, located in Washington, D.C.
