Passion Pit - Gossamer

2009 was an odd year for me. I was digging up the discographies of artists as far and wide from Bob Dylan to the Beastie Boys; from Tears for Fears to Joni Mitchell; from Big Brother & the Holding Company to Neutral Milk Hotel. All the while I was trying to keep up with one of the most exciting recent years for breakthroughs: the year saw debuts from Florence + the Machine, Paloma Faith, Empire of the Sun, VV Brown, The xx, Mumford & Sons, Miike Snow, Noisettes, Bombay Bicycle Club and the Leisure Society. So for me, it was rather lucky that Passion Pit were another such band to catch my attention.

Manners, packed to the brim with indie-pop hits that dominated virtually every night club I went to at the time, was so strong and consistent that it surprised me when it failed to even enter the UK top 40. Stateside, their impression earned them a #4 slot this time around with Gossamer, but the UK still fail to give them the attention they deserve. Granted, they aren't homegrown and therefore going to be flinged into collective British faces via BBC advert spots and over-enthusiastic festival coverage (see: Two Door Cinema Club, a vastly inferior band) - but given their distinctive euphoric sound you'd think promoters would be lapping them up.

Defiant in their urgency, though, the band open with single 'Take a Walk' and a stomping rhythm that's far more rock than their usual fare. Discussing personal finances inbetween that helplessly catchy and jubilant chorus (where the solution is to take a walk), it's endearing in its optimism ("we can rip apart the socialists and all their damn taxes") and tongue-in-cheek politics. Followed by second single 'I'll be Alright' (even the song titles are leading me down the optimism route), it's much more to be expected of the band with its frenetic, rapid sound effects and crashing drums. Similarly cheerful in its disposition is 'Carried Away', although the richly 80s instrumentations and arrangement make it a little too corny for me. They relax a little then on 'Constant Conversations', a piano-led singalong that seems to find vague issue with falseness and boredom.

There are admittedly a handful of tracks on here that could be left out for their lack of originality or ingenuity, and shall test the patience of anyone not already a Passion Pit fan: 'Mirrored Sea', as familiar and warm to fans of their sound as the next track, doesn't really boast anything unique or different about them, but at the same time is enjoyable. On the other hand, the high-pitched squeals of 'Cry Like a Ghost's theramin-like vocals immediately stand out, and it's already one of their greatest songs. More different still is 'On My Way' with its nursery rhyme opening and balladry, but the chorus is indefatigably cute and surely godsent. They follow this with the oddly distorted but no-less-excellent 'Hideaway', one of their jerkiest and most distinctive hooks to date (think church organs thrown into a blender).

After a frankly unnecessary interlude 'Two Veils to Hide My Face' which looks to nature for inspiration, the sugary sweetness is stepped up a notch on 'Love is Greed' - not lyrically, though, as Michael Angelakos tells us "haven't you already had enough?/ what's this suffering remind you of?" - a daring counter-attack to romantics everywhere, but it's...sweet. Love it. 'It's Not My Fault, I'm Happy' again kicks off with an intro as eye-wideningly beautiful as your average Sufjan Stevens track, and it doesn't get any less wonderful afterwards. Their most resounding testament to happiness though is made in 'Where We Belong', the album's closer, which states "All the things you can't control/ Should never destroy the love one holds". It's a fairly convincing argument, too, in amongst the album's multitudinal happy vibes.

When faced with tracks as catchy, inspiring and pretty as these it's always difficult not to give the album a perfect 10... and it's a score I've never used. Even with albums like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Let England Shake I found some fault somewhere and it's irking me - but admittedly Gossamer's not as strong as either of those, and I just can't give a ten here. Nonetheless, it's almost perfect, and the end result is happiness.

Rating: 9/10
Highlights: On My Way, Take a Walk, It's Not My Fault I'm Happy, Hideaway, Cry Like a Ghost
Avoid: Two Veils to Hide My Face, Carried Away

Artwork Watch: I do wish artists would be more honest about their accidental ink blots rather than pass them off as intentional.
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