Though nostalgia has always been a powerful tool in pop music, it seems like it's becoming more and more prevalent lately, what with Taylor Swift's 1989 (which is nostalgic in name alone, not to mention for "Style") or Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk (which sounds like it fell out of the early 1980s) taking residence on the charts. On Kindred, Passion Pit have made a record that doesn't necessarily sound like it comes from the 1980s, yet is steeped in memories of that time by incorporating sounds and images from the decade into the Passion Pit sound.
Opening cut "Lifted Up (1985)" is an ode to remembering, as the song's dynamic shifts to from sombre verses to a dynamic chorus in which Michael Angelakos shouts that "1985 was a good year." "Until We Can't (Let's Go)" sounds like a pop anthem from an '80s pop star, while "Looks Like Rain" would be comfortable on any John Hughes soundtrack. Where Passion Pit really succeed on this record is that the nostalgia doesn't seem forced or gimmicky; there is sincerity to the nods and allusions, something lacking in a lot of the 1980s-inspired pop going around right now.
(Columbia)Opening cut "Lifted Up (1985)" is an ode to remembering, as the song's dynamic shifts to from sombre verses to a dynamic chorus in which Michael Angelakos shouts that "1985 was a good year." "Until We Can't (Let's Go)" sounds like a pop anthem from an '80s pop star, while "Looks Like Rain" would be comfortable on any John Hughes soundtrack. Where Passion Pit really succeed on this record is that the nostalgia doesn't seem forced or gimmicky; there is sincerity to the nods and allusions, something lacking in a lot of the 1980s-inspired pop going around right now.