Gossamer by Passion Pit is, on balance, a really good album.
That's a really boring sentence for you to read, but it's a really exciting one for me to write because I have not historically been a Passion Pit fan. I've never found their music engaging or interesting. I was always really quite ambivalent about the whole ordeal.
Gossamer just changed that. I don't have time for a full-length review, so I'm going to be brief in my discussion here. Basically there have always been two things keeping me from really enjoying Passion Pit's music (the same two things that will keep me from enjoying basically any music): uninteresting musical construction and melodies, and unimportant lyrics. Thirty seconds into "Take a Walk," the album's opening track, both of those problems have been addressed. The main riff of the song is one of the catchiest and most exciting melodies of the year, and the lyrics are a brilliant discussion of the economic crisis and the ways it has affected people who have no sense of how to deal with it. I actually had to start the song over again after the first listen (which I have never done during a first listen of an album) to hear the words one more time. The track immediately shows a great deal of artistic and musical maturity on the part of the band, something I don't feel I could have said before now. The song leaves me just grasping for more, wishing that I could hear the riff once more. Actually, while this is definitely a good place for the album to take me, the riff could have been far more pronounced in the mix, especially during the choruses. It felt buried, and I couldn't get lost in it in the way I often do with great melodies. Nonetheless, "Take a Walk" closes out and I'm right on the edge of my proverbial seat, eager to hear the rest of the album.
What's true of "Take a Walk" is, generally speaking, true of all the songs on this album. They're catchy, they're interesting, they have a lot to say. They do everything a good song is supposed to. I really can't possibly complain about the songwriting on this album. But of course, that doesn't mean I can't complain about something else, and you know I will. I can't overlook the fact that, twenty minutes into the album, I begin to lose interest. Not because of poor writing, but because the songs begin to run together. And not in the good, gapless concept album-y kind of way, but in the "they all sound the same" kind of way. By the thirty minute mark, my attention almost totally lost. But hark! A thirty-second interlude called "Two Veils To Hide My Face" marks something of a turnaround, and the album finishes out on a relatively strong note. These final songs still sound very similar to all the other songs on the album (and in the band's canon), but they're interesting enough to keep me tuned in and pleased, and I leave content. Looking back, the album felt good. It felt like a step up from Passion Pit's previous work. The band is making forward progress, learning their art and themselves as they go, and Gossamer shows this growth splendidly. I do believe they have a few screws to tighten up when it comes to producing their sound in a way that displays their music optimally, but they're really very close. Gossamer is Passion Pit's best album yet, and it has convinced me to give a band I previously dismissed another shot.
Gossamer (Passion Pit): 7.5/10
Gossamer was released July 20, 2012, and is available now on iTunes and Spotify.
No comments:
Post a Comment