Will Hermes on Passion Pit

"From Animal Collective's psychedelic collages to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' punk disco, electronic music has been invading the indie-rock world lately. … Now please welcome Michael Angelakos, the 21-year-old drama queen at the core of Passion Pit. Dude's got a window-rattling falsetto, and his hyperemotional electro pop comes complete with romantic back story (a Valentine's Day gift tape to a girlfriend, which became last year's Chunk of Change EP, earned him a label deal and sold-out club gigs). Passion Pit's full-length debut proves he isn't fronting: It's a shiny bouquet of synth-pop roses, with perfumed Eighties keyboard whooshes and modern stutter beats crooking a finger toward the dance floor. Angelakos takes full advantage of his resources: There are horns, a string section, even an elementary-school choir. But what makes the record are his loose beats, shamelessly fruity melodies and breathless little-boy vocals, all pushing skyward. … 'You've left me shimmering/Like diamond wedding rings!' he declares, ecstatically heartbroken, on the dulcimer-decorated 'Moth's Wings.' … Like all disco divas, Angelakos knows sadness and musical ecstasy can go great together" ("Review," Rolling Stone, 5/28/09, p. 68).