These alfajores are the most fantastically delicious cookies I’ve ever eaten. Ever. I was seriously rationing them out so I could savor them for as long as possible. One at lunch. Another after dinner. They were so good, I nearly shed a tear after eating the last one. And although I was tempted to post a Radiohead album with this recipe, and make comparisons to the 10-out-of-a-possible-10 score nearly every Radiohead album receives by most critics (and these cookies deserve), I decided that something a little more upbeat than songs about “kicking, screaming gucci little piggies” was called for in this case. Thus, I selected the most upbeat, bob your head, tap your toes, and get-up-and-dance album so far this year: Passion Pit – Manners.
You’ve probably already heard Passion Pit‘s song “Sleepyhead” from their Chunk of Change EP that came out last year even if you don’t realize that you’ve heard it (and if not you can download it below). For those who are unfamiliar with “Sleepyhead,” imagine the most amazingly perfect piece of dizzyingly euphoric electro indie-pop pretty much conceivable, and I suspect what you imagined is pretty close to what this song sounds like. The blueprint for each track on Manners is the same: eighties keyboards rhythms shuffle alongside modern beats lifting lead singer Michael Angelakos’ vibrant, almost unnaturally-high falsetto to great circling heights. Nonetheless, the album rarely feels repetitive, and on tracks like “Moth’s Wings,” “Little Secrets,” and “The Reeling” the band manage to make this familiar formula feel new. I’ll admit, this album isn’t for everyone, but if you like upbeat, infectious, disco-y, dance-y indie-pop, then you’ll probably love this.
Love it or hate it, listening to Passion Pit‘s Manners will give you a sense of how I felt eating Kasey’s alfajores cookies. Imagine little metaphoric bursts of serotonin preceding each snare drum hit and waves of endorphins mimicking the wooshing keyboard melodies from any song on this album, and you’ll get the idea.
If you download the sample MP3s below, and like them – please go buy the album from Insound, or, ever better, stop by your local record store and pick up a copy.
Passion Pit – Sleepyhead (taken down due to request)
Go back to the homepage to find the recipe for these mind-bendingly awesome alfajores. They are absolutely worth the time it takes to prepare them.
