passion pit

CD Review: Local Natives – Gorilla Manor [2010, Frenchkiss]

Posted on February 5, 2010 by Ricky in Albums, Everything | 1 Comment

Toronto – This is going to be a fairly lazy review, I will probably pull a Jamie Foxx and name drop a bunch of things here, hoping somehow that in the process, a review will somehow percolate subconsciously in your head and you’ll come away from the article thinking this was a good review. Local Natives are a 5 piece band from Los Angeles, California. I thought Local Natives in California were known as Mexicans. HAHA. Maybe that’s a sensitive issue, I am not sure. Anyways, they have an album coming out on February 16th, it’s called Gorilla Manor.

The band relies on 3 part harmonies, layered with a chilled out Caribbean cruise ship rock vibe and thus, has drawn comparisons to bands such as Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend and Fleet Foxes. I also think you can draw comparisons to bands like My Morning Jacket, Passion Pit and a happier Band of Horses as well. They are signed to Frenchkiss records, who are on a absolute roll these days, having had the Antlers and Passion Pit break through into the blogosphere last year. I am 100% sure Local Natives will do the same this year.

Gorilla Manor is a solid chilled out affair. As with any Vampire Weekendish sounding record, it’s something you can always put on, because of it’s mellow weekend vibe. There’s a cover of a Talking Heads song (“Warning Sign”) on there and I can already sense that songs like Airplanes, Sun Hands and Wide Eyes are going to be popular, and will probably be in some movie soundtracks.

Overall, if you like any of the bands I have mentioned, and want to listen to say, a more upbeat, more Californian version of them, then definitely check out Gorilla Manors. It would probably be in your best interest to see a show when they tour the first time, because the next time they come around, it’ll be at a way big venue and packed.

 

icon for podpress  Local Natives – Sun Hands: Play Now

Concerts: A year in review, 2009

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Ricky in Everything | 1 Comment

Toronto – I went to a lot of shows in 2009, as a result, I’m going to be deaf when I’m 50. What? What? Here are some of the highlights.

Glasvegas, Vice, Austin, Texas
I wasn’t a huge Glasvegas fan until I saw them play, and they blew me away. The lead singer is a dead on ringer for a young Joel Strummer and their wall of sound show was impressive to say the least, all leading up to a “Daddy’s gone” singalong. I also managed to piss off the club owner, after moving moving chairs into his vip area and sitting there. Haha.

Matt and Kim, Austin and Toronto
How can you not love Matt and Kim. They put forth such an effort at their shows you can only get sucked into their vortex of happiness and enjoy it. The Austin show was the most epic, but the NXNE shows were also great as well. I saw them three times this year, and if Sufjan wasn’t playing October 4th, I would have seen them a fourth time. That’s how good they are live, even if some of their schticks (Final Countdown) are repeated, they do it with such enthusiasm, it makes it okay.

The Whip, Late of the Pier, White Lies and err Razorlight, Cedar Courtyard, Austin, Texas
Not only was the lineup great, but whenever you have a fight between a band and security, that always makes the show memorable. The Whip were insanely good live (much to my surprise) and the rest of the bands were solid. White Lies delivered on the enormous hype they had coming into SXSW and Razorlight allowed us to all go in and grab a beer, so all in all, an excellent day.

The Presets, Mod Club, Toronto
They have one of the better light shows out there, and the album is quite strong. I really like electronic shows with crazy light shows, because all you do is go there and dance and feed off the energy of the crowd. This show had tons of energy and the result was a big bumpin dance floor. Maybe I should be a raver.

Patrick Wolf, Mod Club, Toronto
Just read this review and it’ll give you a sense of the epicness of the Patrick Wolf show. You were literally exhausted and speechless after it was all said and done, and probably took a few hours to absorbed what happened. Stage fits, nudity, crowd invasions. extremely weird costumes and an underlying feeling of ‘what’s next’ dominated this NXNE show and really, it delivered on so many fronts (no pun intended). It also helps that this man is extremely talented. I don’t know if you could put up with so much shenanigans if it was someone like Aaron Carter or something.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kool Haus, Toronto
It’s Karen-O, of course this show was going to rule.

The Killers, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto
Haha, just kidding, my big highlight from this trip was eating bacon with chocolate at the Ex.

Surprise Enjoyable Concert of the Year
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, El Mocambo, Toronto
Like I said in the review, I knew nothing about the band going in and wanted to know everything about the band going up. That is a sign of a good show.

Disappointing Shows
Passion Pit, Lees Palace, Toronto – These guys voice just doesn’t carry well in a live environment. I thought their show lacked..passion. Har har.

Lykke Li, Phoenix, Toronto – It just wasn’t very good, the weird pixie drumming of Lykke Li didn’t really add to a very non organic feeling concert.

Sebastien Tellier, Mod Club, Toronto – Never a good sign to see someone drink two bottles of white wine on stage…and try to perform.

La Roux, Guvernment, Toronto – Diamond Rings was a good opener, but La Roux 35 minute show felt rushed and phoned in.

Show that makes me feel like an idiot, 10x over
Kanye West, Perez’s Party, Austin – Easy the biggest regret of the year. I was tired and wasn’t feeling the greatest, but it’s still no excuse to bail out on the Perez party and miss Kanye West playing in front of ohh..250 people. I still feel stupid today about it, even if I don’t, Allison will remind me about it.

CONCERT OF THE YEAR
Manic Street Preachers, Phoenix, Toronto
Easily. I love them. They love me. One of the bands I want to see the most. Small venue. Greatest hits show. I sang almost every song and as a result, the show of the year.

Favorite concerts from other years:
2008 – James, Phoenix, Toronto
2007 – Arcade Fire, Massey Hall, Toronto
2006 – Massive Attack, Carlu, Toronto
2005 – Art Brut, Lees, Toronto
2004 – Morrissey, Hummingbird, Toronto or Basement Jaxx, Coachella

Here’s hoping for another year of good shows.

Ps. Other PM Members, feel free to add to this post.

 

icon for podpress  Manic Street Preachers – You Stole The Sun From My Heart: Play Now

Concert Review: Passion Pit, Lee’s Palace, June 16

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Allison in Concerts | 10 Comments

Toronto – So I didn’t know anything about Passion Pit until about 30 minutes before I went to their show last night but Ricky had an extra ticket and the only things I have to look forward to on most Tuesday nights are Seinfeld reruns.

No surprise then that the only track I recognized from them whilst doing my 15-minute pre-show research was their Sony PSP spot (Sleepy Head). Although I also liked the Reeling, I can see how Michael Angelakos has the sort of vocals you either love to hate or love to love. On the one hand it’s extremely distinctive, maybe even soulful. On the other hand this might be the sort of operatic sound a guy would make while his balls are being put through a woodchipper. Be that as it may, there’s no denying that the white marriage of catchy dancey beats + soul / funk rock is a great genre that is here to stay, and that these guys do very well with. But hey, what do I know. I just listened to the four songs they have on their MySpace page.

Passion Pit by allsongs.

The first thing that struck me when we lined up to get in was the amazing steam their hype machine has picked up. Whoever is representing them is doing an astronomical job because this show is on-par with being one of the most sold-out shows I’ve ever seen at Lee’s with scalpers reportedly selling for $40, $60, and in Chicago, $100. It looked like their openers Harlem Shakes attracted a massive audience as well, and good for them. We were late and missed their performance  but from the three tracks I listened to off their page they have the potential to be a rootsier pop version of Ben Folds Five and have garnered pretty good reviews from everyone who caught them last night.

Read more

 

icon for podpress  Passion Pit – SLeepyhead: Play Now

CD Review: Passion Pit – Manners [2009, FrenchKiss Records]

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Ricky in Albums | 2 Comments

passion-pit-manners

Toronto – If there was an awards season for blogosphere music, Passion Pit would probably win the 2009 award for most hyped band. Much like Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend and many others before, this Massachusetts band has been endlessly written about n recent times. To make the most of this situation, they have released their debut album “Manners” thru Frenchkiss Records. Before I review this record, lets see what Jarvis Cocker had to say about it:

This is basically DANCE by Justice, as played by born-again Christians

That quote is pretty dead on. However before you take that in negative light, realize that Justice is pretty damn good, and “born again Christians” just means the album is clean. Manners is a solid effort for a debut. It’s a bit top heavy I think (most of the tracks I like are at the beginning), but overall, Passion Pit has developed a nice happy pop rock dance sound. I don’t even know what kind of genre this music is anymore because it fuses so many aspects of different sounds. It’s got some of that group vocals ala Los Campesinos, its got the sound samples of kids singing ala Justice and catchy melodies of well, I don’t know. I’ve been trying to figure out what else they sound like, but I can’t quite place it. It’s all good though. Tracks like “Little Secrets”, “Sleepyhead’ and the Calvin Harris approved “The Reeling” are guaranteed to be on summer mixtapes somewhere.

Overall, a pretty damn good effort from a band that has only been around all of two years. Maybe next time they can find a more inspired choice for an album cover.

Passion Pit plays Lees Palace on June 16th.

 

icon for podpress  Passion Pits – Little Secrets: Play Now

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