Massachusetts electro-pop entity, Passion Pit’s third album Kindred sounds as bright and shiny as 1985, the year they reference on the opening track.
The group is one of the more commercial sounding in a slew of one person or duo performers (including the Ting Tings, Owl City and Twenty One Pilots) getting attention. There are synthetic similarities between them, probably due to a reliance on technology, so fans of flesh and blood sounds won’t be pleased.
The frontman of Passion Pit, Michael Angelakos, goes for bubblegum melodies on Kindred.
Angelakos knows his way around programming and keyboards and also knows how to write hooks. All I Want is saccharine but hard to ignore.
The material on Kindred is well crafted but that doesn’t give the album depth or atmosphere. Songs like Five Foot Ten (I) are perfectly arranged pieces of music that feature a nursery rhyme chorus played above pretty sounds that jingle nicely but don’t stir any affinity.
Perhaps that’s it, the songs are pleasant but it’s like a 40-minute- long jingle.
There are some exceptions to the candy floss: Looks Like Rain is a beautifully written track that showcases what Angelakos can do with a melody. This straight ahead approach strips away the artifice and connects on a fundamental level.
The album is too affected and mechanized to generate any heat – the same sounds and themes are recycled throughout. At least it’s brief.
Dean Gordon-Smith reviews the latest music in The Morning Star every Friday.
