Passion Pit has had, by all measures, a stellar few years. Their first EP, Chunk of Change, was a love letter to a doomed romance, given as a gift by singer Michael Angelakos in 2008 and never meant to be heard by the general public. Since then they’ve released two albums of stadium-crushing pop, both topping their predecessors’ ever growing repute: 2009’s hit debut LP Manners and 2012’s darkly triumphant Gossamer. Their latest album’s success eschews the traditional pitfall of the sophomore slump, eclipsing the already impressive accomplishments of Manners.
“We’ve been so lucky how since this band has started everything has worked out for us. There was part of me that was thinking that our luck was going to run out at some point and we were going to have to figure out another game plan,” said bassist Jeff Apruzzese.
“It’s really awesome to see how it’s been growing but it’s also kind of different too. With this record especially we’ve been seeing a lot more commercial and radio stuff, a lot more than we did with the past two records… So now we’re starting to get a lot of people coming to our shows who only know the two songs that they hear on the radio. You know it’s like having a different crowd and fans, it’s been really cool.”
Gossamer was released not with a whimper but with a bang, exploding out into people’s homes and heads across the country. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, a remarkable demonstration of faith in the album format that’s seen so much cynicism as of late.
“A lot of this generation of kids has been born into the internet, like they don’t know anything else but social media,” said Apruzzese. “And with that comes a lost appreciation for records as a whole and everything being looked at as singles to add to your mixtape, you know, like, it’s crazy. You think of bands and you think ‘Oh, I really like that song now’ instead of ‘Oh, I really like that record.’”
If there was ever an album in 2012 to serve as bulwark against the compartmentalizing ethos of the 21st century, Gossamer is surely it. Resplendent with candy-coated, radio ready singles and propped up by a framework of darker and more difficult deep cuts, the album functions more as a cohesive statement than as a vessel for its (many) hits.
Despite this, Passion Pit has recently gained a heightened level of attention and controversy in particular from the use of their song “Take a Walk” in a Taco Bell commercial. Reactions across the internet and beyond ranged from perplexed to downright furious to slightly hungry. Apruzzese, however, has remained undeterred.
“The only people who can really talk about credibility are the ones who have been around and sold millions of records and don’t need to worry about getting their music put out anymore because you know, they don’t need it,” said Apruzzese of the people crying sell-out. “But younger bands really need that stuff, they really need every single push that they can get to really get their music out there … it’s a common misconception too that just because your music is being played on TV or on the radio, most of the time you’re not really getting paid for it.”
Passion Pit have recently embarked on an appropriately gigantic tour to support the release of Gossamer, spanning Europe, Mexico and America— including a stop in Madison this Saturday. “This is kind of the biggest thing that we’ve done since this band’s career, I guess, this tour we have in February and March,” said Apruzzese. “I figure it’s going to be really extraordinary, you know, a really beautiful show that we put together and I’m really excited to do this whole thing.”
And to everyone going to the show just to hear “Sleepyhead” for the millionth time, there’s a place for you in the band’s heart as well. “You know, I think the reaction to that song when we play it live kind of makes it, it kind of rejuvenates the song and makes it, you know, fun to play again,” said Apruzzese.
“The fact that you know every show where we play, that song, that’s the [biggest] reaction, you know that is the song that everyone is waiting for. And that’s the energy we feed off of.”
