Moth’s Wings – Passion Pit
Hands up, everyone who predicted the LP from Passion Pit would be this good. Anyone? I certainly didn’t. “Sleepyhead” was a great track, but it had all the marks of a classic one-hit wonder band. It seemed eminently likely that they would eventually come out with a record that utterly failed to live up to that one track and would quickly fade from memory
It turns out though, that Manners is far better than anybody would have guessed.
They avoid both traps: first, the risk of issuing a bunch of insipid re-treads of their one hit; second, the risk of trying to prove themselves to be far more than their one by producing a bunch of songs that aim for sophistication but in fact are merely listless and indifferent.
The secret seems to be an utter lack of concern with how the record will be received. Rather than trying to make any particular statement or point, they appear utterly satisfied with the project of churning out delicious pop songs. In so doing, they completely capture the spirit that made “Sleepyhead” such an earworm without needing to simply replicate its sound.
The first couple tracks give you a sense that they might be onto something, but it’s on the third track – the glorious and epic “Moth’s Wings” – that you really begin to understand just what they have accomplished. Intricately constructed, bombastic, and oh that chorus. It’s Miracle Fortress with the afterburners turned on.
The rest of the album never quite reaches those heights again, but there’s no shame in that. There’s plenty a great dance track here, as they draw out all the best elements from the past three or four decades of music. Meld together the 80s euphoria that made Cut Copy so much fun last year with a pure pop bliss that would make Brian Wilson blush. Add some disco-infused indie electronica and set the whole thing free.
Even the weaker tracks (album opener “Make Light” for example) err on the side of exuberance and reach a bit too far. The mistakes a bold, adventurous, and so well-meaning that it’s hard to really blame them. And even if the screech of the vocals gets a bit much here, or the synths overwhelm the rest of the melody there, you run into a “Moth’s Wings” or “Eyes as Candles” and your heart is so instantly filled with joy that the little imperfections waft away into nothingness.