Manners (album)

Critical reception

Manners was met with critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 27 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Mike Diver of Clash scored the album nine out of ten, writing, "At its most adventurous, Manners sounds like little else—a pop record that exists in a world of its own, carving a subgenre niche which only fits their expansive, tonally decadent material." Nick Marino of Paste stated that "[n]ot every song is perfect, but perfection is boring. What we need in these weary times—and what Passion Pit brings—is exuberance. Manners delivers the elusive feeling that everything will be alright. Or, just maybe, that everything already is." Pitchfork Media's Ian Cohen viewed Manners as "the sort of heart-to-heart populist record that's every bit as sincere as it is infectious—though Angelakos sings in a manner rarely heard outside of a shower with unpredictable temperature control, it feels symbolic of a band that's completely unashamed, not shameless, in its pursuit of a human connection." In a review for Rolling Stone, Will Hermes described the album as "a shiny bouquet of synth-pop roses, with perfumed Eighties keyboard whooshes and modern stutter beats crooking a finger toward the dance floor", adding that "what makes the record are [Angelakos'] loose beats, shamelessly fruity melodies and breathless little-boy vocals, all pushing skyward."

AllMusic editor Tim Sendra rated album four out of five stars, expressing that it "could have been a total clustercrash of influences and sounds that ended up sounding hollow and pointless. Instead, thanks to the meticulous production values, the insane catchiness of the hooks, and the pure and true emotional underpinnings below all the gloss, the album is a total success of both sound and vision." The Guardian's Paul MacInnes noted that while Angelakos' "euphoric mix of pop both electronic and melodic" is not "entirely unfamiliar", "the consistency with which various elements are blended suggests an artist with his own vision—signature details being crashing percussion left high in the mix and, even higher, Angelakos's piercing falsetto." MacInnes continued, "Perhaps not as striking as it might have seemed 18 months ago, but still a debut album of distinction." Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine gave the album four out of five stars and opined, "Ironically enough for an album called Manners, its biggest problem is that the band sometimes comes on too strong—a risk for anyone trying to execute lush, hyperactive pop with good taste." He concluded, "It just so happens that Passion Pit has released a gorgeous pop album in time for the warm weather, and while Manners would make a perfect soundtrack to any summer, you'll want to keep the best cuts around for far longer."

PopMatters critic Matthew Fiander praised Manners as "big, ambitious, bursting-at-the-seams electro-pop brilliance", writing that the album "makes you want to dance, and it gets it hooks deep into, so much so that you might be humming the melodies to these songs mindlessly, before you even realize they're Passion Pit." Entertainment Weekly's Jeremy Medina claimed that although "disorienting", the album "never lacks energy", adding that "while the midtempo tunes often venture into cheesy '80s-pop territory, the album's dense sound rewards repeat listens." Louise Brailey of the NME commented that "while they do dip into an Avalanches-esque sample-based sonic palette, most of Manners paints with much broader, primary-coloured strokes." Still, Brailey believed that "[t]here are times when the album feels strangely medicated; the positivity, when heaped upon the listener in brutal doses, makes you feel trapped in one of those American self-help groups." Paul Caine of The A.V. Club graded the album a C+ and felt that it "attempts to synthesize Michael Angelakos' natural talent for dance music with more straightforward, heart-on-sleeve rock, but can't quite commit to either."

Track listing

All tracks written by Michael Angelakos, except where noted.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Manners album liner notes.