Score: 2.5/5
Passion Pit is the perfect music for walking the racks of Urban Outfitters, but that’s about it.
The band released its newest album “Kindred” and about four songs into the record, it begins to feel repetitive. The electronic, dance tracks are great as singular items, but together become a bit mind numbing.
“Kindred” is 14 tracks split up into two disks. The first disc includes ten new tracks and the second disk includes four tracks which are remixed or acoustic versions of select songs.
The entire band is one man, Michael Angelakos, who lends his voice and production skills to every song. Passion Pit is very distinct because of Angelakos’ high-pitched vocals. The band is also very distinct because of how computerized its sound is.
“Lifted Up (1985)” opens the album. This song is the epitome of a Passion Pit song. It sounds very much like “Take a Walk,” or even older Passion Pit such as “I’ve Got Your Number.” It’s a classic poppy, dance song that will succeed on party playlists, or again, Urban Outfitters.
“Where the Sky Hangs” is a very fun song on the album and may be the most different. It has a little bit of a disco feel as opposed to just the typical pop computer sound Angelakos usually produces.
“All I Want” is a track with a Vampire Weekend inspired sound. Bringing in an alternative rock sound makes the record more dimensional because without it, the tracks would sound more repetitive than they already do.
After these tracks, everything starts to get very identical. The rest of “Kindred” can really be tossed away because it’ll either give the feeling you’ve listened to it before or it’s dull.
“My Brother Taught Me How to Swim” is one of the tracks that can easily bore or annoy listeners. “Ten Feet Tall (II)” also fits into this category and includes so much auto-tune it’s exhausting.
“Looks Like Rain” is a slower song that is easily forgotten. It detracts rather than adds to “Kindred.”
Disc two is full of remixed and acoustic versions that also follow suit with a combination of autotuned and dull tracks.
Overall, the first tracks are a keeper for a shopper’s playlist, but the rest don’t matter.