So I’ve decided to designate Mondays as “New Music Monday” from now on, in accordance with the similar trend all over Twitter. If you can’t beat ‘em – try and cash in on some of the eager music-seeking readers.

Introducing: Passion Pit – the five-man American electro band from Massachusetts has been ALL over the blog circuit lately including sitting atop (or very near) the We Are Hunted Top 99 tracks of the online social sphere. Their first full-length album “Manners” is set to release in two weeks on May 19th and so far most of the hype has surrounded their first single “Reeling” and upcoming single “Little Secrets” for which they are running a remix contest.

Passion Pit “Little Secrets”

To be quite honest, after hearing those two tracks I wasn’t exactly an instant fan. “Little Secrets” has a fun 80′s vibe with a children’s choir and some funky reversed synthy riffs, but the squealing vocals become really grating for me after about one verse. I much prefer some of the remixes that you can hear on the contest page because the music takes the driver’s seat and the vocals are more as added embellishments.

Passion Pit “Moths Wings”

As we near the release date for the album, more songs have leaked and I recently discovered another track from their new album called “Moths Wings.” This track is much more enjoyable for me than their chosen singles. For one, it feels like it has a direction and develops in a way that makes it feel really EPIC. On the flip side of epic is always a little cheese but I don’t think this track leans that way at all.

One criticism I have though is that it feels like its headed for somewhere that it never quite reaches – it builds and builds and never breaks into the section that makes you scream YES! in your head (or perhaps out loud but I’m more of an inner monologue kind of person). Though I’m not terribly fond of their latest efforts, the best example I can think of is Coldplay’s “Fix You.” What would that song have been without the “Tears stream down your face” break?

The vocals stretch for the same screechy high notes but they don’t insist on sitting on them for the whole song and that makes them so much more effective and interesting – making them feel passionate instead of shrill.

Another track of theirs I came across was “Sleepyhead” from their Chunk of Change EP which apparently was everyone’s favorite. Again – not a standout for me. The instrumentation and sampling is really interesting and dancey up front but good GOD I cringed when the vocals finally dropped. They did a similar remix contest with “Sleepyhead” last fall like the one they’re currently doing with “Little Secrets” and I decided to check some of them out to see if they were an improvement on the original. Neo Toyko’s remix was a definite success. It’s funky, playful and uses the vocals more sparingly – or in a better mix with the musical elements so it doesn’t feel so harsh.

Passion Pit “Sleepyhead” (Neo Toyko Remix)

With all of the hype surrounding these guys right now, I’m sure there are 7000 people out there that will disagree with me on some of my criticism here, but given what I’ve heard and have liked, I hope there rest of their debut album is more along the lines of “Moths Wings.”

Keep an ear out for the release of Manners on May 19th, and in the meantime you can buy their EP, Chunk of Change, on iTunes and Amazon and preorder Manners on Amazon. Enjoy!

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