Manners (album)

Manners
Studio album by Passion Pit
Released May 15, 2009
Recorded November–December 2008;
Gigantic Studios
(New York City, New York)
Genre Synthpop, indie pop, indie rock
Length 45:33
Label Frenchkiss (US), Columbia (UK)
Producer Chris Zane
Passion Pit chronology

Chunk of Change
(2008)		 Manners
(2009)		 Gossamer
(2012)
Alternative cover
New artwork created by German artist Robert Seidel.
Extended edition cover
Singles from Manners
  1. "The Reeling"
    Released: May 11, 2009
  2. "To Kingdom Come"
    Released: August 24, 2009
  3. "Little Secrets"
    Released: December 14, 2009

Manners is the debut studio album by American electropop band Passion Pit, released on May 15, 2009 by Frenchkiss Records and Columbia Records. "The Reeling" was released as the album's lead single on May 11, 2009, and its music video premiered on YouTube on April 21, 2009. A second single "To Kingdom Come" was released in August 2009, followed by "Little Secrets" in December 2009. "Sleepyhead" was originally included on Passion Pit's debut EP Chunk of Change (2008), but was mastered for inclusion on Manners (none of the tracks on the EP were mastered).[1]

Pitchfork Media announced on March 16, 2010 that Frenchkiss Records would release a deluxe edition of the album on April 13, 2010 with three bonus tracks and new artwork. The bonus tracks included stripped-down versions of "Moth's Wings" and "Sleepyhead" and a cover of The Cranberries' 1992 song "Dreams", which the band played live on their 2010 world tour.[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 76/100[3]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [4]
Clash 9/10[5]
Entertainment Weekly B[6]
The Guardian [7]
NME 7/10[8]
Paste 9.2/10[9]
Pitchfork Media 8.1/10[10]
PopMatters 8/10[11]
Rolling Stone [12]
Slant Magazine [13]

Manners was met with critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[3] Mike Diver of Clash scored the album nine out of ten, writing, "At its most adventurous, Manners sounds like little else—a pop record that exists in a world of its own, carving a subgenre niche which only fits their expansive, tonally decadent material."[5] Nick Marino of Paste stated that "[n]ot every song is perfect, but perfection is boring. What we need in these weary times—and what Passion Pit brings—is exuberance. Manners delivers the elusive feeling that everything will be alright. Or, just maybe, that everything already is."[9] Pitchfork Media's Ian Cohen viewed Manners as "the sort of heart-to-heart populist record that's every bit as sincere as it is infectious—though Angelakos sings in a manner rarely heard outside of a shower with unpredictable temperature control, it feels symbolic of a band that's completely unashamed, not shameless, in its pursuit of a human connection."[10] In a review for Rolling Stone, Will Hermes described the album as "a shiny bouquet of synth-pop roses, with perfumed Eighties keyboard whooshes and modern stutter beats crooking a finger toward the dance floor", adding that "what makes the record are [Angelakos'] loose beats, shamelessly fruity melodies and breathless little-boy vocals, all pushing skyward."[12]

Allmusic editor Tim Sendra rated album four out of five stars, expressing that it "could have been a total clustercrash of influences and sounds that ended up sounding hollow and pointless. Instead, thanks to the meticulous production values, the insane catchiness of the hooks, and the pure and true emotional underpinnings below all the gloss, the album is a total success of both sound and vision."[4] The Guardian‍ '​s Paul MacInnes noted that while Angelakos' "euphoric mix of pop both electronic and melodic" is not "entirely unfamiliar", "the consistency with which various elements are blended suggests an artist with his own vision—signature details being crashing percussion left high in the mix and, even higher, Angelakos's piercing falsetto." MacInnes continued, "Perhaps not as striking as it might have seemed 18 months ago, but still a debut album of distinction."[7] Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine gave the album four out of five stars and opined, "Ironically enough for an album called Manners, its biggest problem is that the band sometimes comes on too strong—a risk for anyone trying to execute lush, hyperactive pop with good taste." He concluded, "It just so happens that Passion Pit has released a gorgeous pop album in time for the warm weather, and while Manners would make a perfect soundtrack to any summer, you'll want to keep the best cuts around for far longer."[13]

PopMatters critic Matthew Fiander praised Manners as "big, ambitious, bursting-at-the-seams electro-pop brilliance", writing that the album "makes you want to dance, and it gets it hooks deep into, so much so that you might be humming the melodies to these songs mindlessly, before you even realize they're Passion Pit."[11] Entertainment Weekly‍ '​s Jeremy Medina claimed that although "disorienting", the album "never lacks energy", adding that "while the midtempo tunes often venture into cheesy '80s-pop territory, the album's dense sound rewards repeat listens."[6] Louise Brailey of the NME commented that "while they do dip into an Avalanches-esque sample-based sonic palette, most of Manners paints with much broader, primary-coloured strokes." Still, Brailey believed that "[t]here are times when the album feels strangely medicated; the positivity, when heaped upon the listener in brutal doses, makes you feel trapped in one of those American self-help groups."[8] Paul Caine of The A.V. Club graded the album a C+ and felt that it "attempts to synthesize Michael Angelakos' natural talent for dance music with more straightforward, heart-on-sleeve rock, but can't quite commit to either."[14]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Michael Angelakos, except where noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "Make Light"   4:56
2. "Little Secrets"   3:59
3. "Moth's Wings"   4:16
4. "The Reeling"   4:48
5. "Eyes as Candles"   4:03
6. "Swimming in the Flood"   4:59
7. "Folds in Your Hands"   3:39
8. "To Kingdom Come"   4:07
9. "Sleepyhead" (Angelakos, Mary O'Hara) 2:55
10. "Let Your Love Grow Tall"   3:32
11. "Seaweed Song"   4:25
Sample credits

Personnel

Credits adapted from Manners album liner notes.[16]

Passion Pit
Additional

  • Alex Aldi – engineer (1–8, 10, 11); mixing (all tracks)
  • Sofia Degli Alessandri – backing vocals (3, 4, 6, 7)
  • Eric Biondo – horn (1, 2, 4, 8)
  • Stuart Bogie – horn (1, 2, 4, 8)
  • Anita Marisa Boriboon – art direction
  • Greg Calbi – mastering (1–11)
  • Richard Cohen – management
  • Steve Fallon – mastering (12–14)
  • Paul Hogan – string arrangements (6)
  • Seth Jabour – guitar (2)
  • Frank Napolski – design
  • George Pagonis – drums (1)
  • Cale Parks – vibraphone (6, 10, 11)
  • PS22 Chorus – backing vocals (2, 4, 10)
  • Robert Seidel – artwork
  • Julian Tepper – backing vocals (1)
  • Grant Wheeler – additional programming (1, 3)
  • Matthew Young – additional programming (1, 3)
  • Chris Zane – mixing, producer (all tracks); engineer (12–14); drums, percussion (14)

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart[17] 19
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[18] 98
French Albums Chart[19] 123
Irish Albums Chart[20] 30
UK Albums Chart[21] 55
US Billboard 200[22] 51
US Independent Albums[22] 8

Release history

Country Date Label
Australia[23] May 15, 2009 Sony Music
France[24] May 18, 2009
United Kingdom[25] Columbia Records
United States[26] May 19, 2009 Frenchkiss Records
Italy[27] June 25, 2009 Sony Music
Germany[28] July 3, 2009
Japan[15] October 7, 2009

References

  1. ↑ Swift, Jacqui (May 15, 2009). "'When it comes to melody, we go for the jugular'". The Sun. News Group Newspapers. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  2. ↑ Phillips, Amy (March 16, 2010). "Passion Pit Reissue Debut Album". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 19, 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Manners – Passion Pit". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sendra, Tim. "Manners – Passion Pit". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Diver, Mike (May 5, 2009). "Passion Pit – Manners". Clash. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Medina, Jeremy (May 26, 2009). "Manners (2009): Passion Pit". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 MacInnes, Paul (May 15, 2009). "Passion Pit: Manners". The Guardian. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Brailey, Louise (May 13, 2009). "Album review: Passion Pit". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Marino, Nick (May 18, 2009). "Passion Pit: Manners". Paste. Paste Media Group. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Cohen, Ian (May 22, 2009). "Passion Pit: Manners". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 22, 2009.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Fiander, Matthew (May 28, 2009). "Passion Pit: Manners". PopMatters. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Hermes, Will (May 18, 2009). "Manners : Passion Pit". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on May 22, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2009.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Cole, Matthew (May 21, 2009). "Passion Pit: Manners". Slant Magazine. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  14. ↑ Caine, Paul (May 26, 2009). "Passion Pit: Manners". The A.V. Club. Onion, Inc. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 パッション・ピット : !マナー [Passion Pit: Manners] (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  16. ↑ Manners (CD liner notes). Passion Pit. Columbia Records. 2009. 5053105215533.
  17. ↑ "Passion Pit – Manners". Australian Recording Industry Association. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  18. ↑ "Passion Pit – Manners" (in French). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  19. ↑ "Passion Pit – Manners" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Top 75 Artist Album, Week Ending 21 May 2009". Irish Recorded Music Association. Chart-Track. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  21. ↑ "The Official Charts Company - Manners by Passion Pit Search". The Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Manners – Passion Pit". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Manners – Passion Pit". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Manners : Passion Pit" (in French). Fnac. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  25. ↑ "Passion Pit – Manners". Columbia Records UK. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Manners: Passion Pit". Amazon.com. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  27. ↑ "Passion Pit – Manners" (in Italian). Internet Bookshop Italia. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  28. ↑ "Passion Pit – Manners" (in German). Sony Music Germany. Retrieved October 12, 2011.