April 12: La Roux vs. Passion Pit

Earlier this week I bought my tickets for Passion Pit at the Roseland Theatre on April 12. Tickets came in the mail a couple days later. I was, and still am, very excited. But then I got an email today alerting me today tickets will go on sale for La Roux, who will be playing at Wonder Ballroom on, when else, April 12. Portland is not big enough for La Roux and Passion Pit to accidentally come on the same day. WTF? Some booking agent screwed this up, and I am mad as hell. Well, alright, mock outrage is cheesy. I’m just a little bummed. Because now I am going to have to choose between two of my favorite bands.

I won’t go into too much depth about La Roux because I dedicated a post to them relatively recently. I will note, however, that La Roux’s sophomore album is due out in the near future. Lead singer, 21-year-old Elly Jackson recently said that she’s “into a lot more Italo disco and old funk” these days, and the next album will have a distinct sound. Apparently she has been experimenting with new ways to use her voice. The band only did a handful of stops in North America last summer, and the April tour date will be their first in Portland.

Passion Pit, on the other hand, deserves a little more attention at this juncture. Passion Pit is the brainchild of Michael Angelakos. At the outset, in 2007, he made an EP called Chunk of Change on his computer as a Valentine’s Day gift for his girlfriend. He gave copies to a few friends, and soon it was all over the internet. Shortly thereafter, Passion Pit got a record contract, and he got together a full group for touring. In the summer of 2009 Passion Pit, now based in Boston, released the first full album, Manners.

The band sounds like a bunch of oompa loompas on ecstasy and steroids. But Passion Pit’s music is melodic, multi-layered happiness, and it makes you feel good when you listen to it. For a nice sample, here is a track currently on the radio (Little Secrets), a sweet Calvin Harris remix (The Reeling), and an acoustic version of a great track for a mixtape for your girlfriend (Sleepyhead). Enjoy.