Passion Pit, 24 October 2009, Manchester Academy

It was a quiet start to the night at Manchester Academy, with a sparse smattering of people stood half bemused by remixer Ben Jacobs, otherwise known as Max Tundra. He made some pretty unique and entertaining sounds from his mish-mash of instruments, enough to draw in a sizeable crowd for second act, The Joy Formidable. Dark but spangly, frontwoman Ritzy exudes an unshakeable attitude. Mouthy vocals and a zippy vox pack a big fist of attitude, with a meatier infrastructure than we’ve grown to know as the standard ‘indie support act’.

Having the helm of indie-rock thrust firmly into their hands on this year’s festival circuit, Passion Pit are affable and cute in their matching checks, shyly pushing their equipment around the stage for a while. The debut album Chunk of Change was originally by front man Michael Angelakos for his girlfriend as a Valentine present. Their style is representative; a fresh faced sound grizzled with awkwardness and the Massachusetts 5 piece could be sampling tracks in their bedrooms, or the science lab at college.

Angelakos and gang took a trip through a range of weird and wonderful effects throughout their set, ploughing their way energetically through Manners; the album that sent their music soaring out of Boston and into the ears of indie kids across the pond.

Along with crowd pleaser, Better Things, the most renowned (and brilliant) sample found of the night is in the form of Mary O’Hara’s Oro Mo Bhaidin, on Sleepyhead. The track makes an excellent encore, with poppy synths and an incredible, jagged bassline. Quietly confident and without an inch of swagger, we should anticipate an explosive 2010 for Passion Pit as their notoriety blooms further across the UK festival scene.

www.passionpitmusic.com

Words: Gill Ripley