Preview: Passion Pit at the 9:30 Club on July 28 and 29

Passion Pit, carrying on the legacy of a 2009 performance at D.C.’s Black Cat and 2019 at The Anthem, returns to the district next Tuesday, July 28 and Wednesday, July 29 for their “Pretty Penny” tour. The tour, which is itself a lead-up to the band’s planned 2026 EP Pretty Penny, comes almost 20 years after lead singer Michael Angelakos’s debut EP Chunk of Change (2008). 

This debut EP features several songs that Angelakos wrote for his then-girlfriend while at Emerson College in 2008. Manners, released the following year, includes Passion Pit’s most famous song, “Sleepyhead,” along with the well-known track “Little Secrets.”

The band released Manners in 2012, which features “Take a Walk” and “Carried Away.” 

The group is often described as a kind of “indietronica,” a genre defined by greats such as Stereolab, Broadcast, Lali Puna, Múm, and the Postal Service. The band is also recognized for its distinct, exuberant and pumping synths overlaid with emotionally-charged lyrics and falsetto reaches. 

Angelakos’s work as a mental health advocate in the music industry is notable too, as he’s spent the last few years of his life raising awareness and speaking publicly about living with bipolar disorder. 

Ultimately, this tour pays tribute to the past while celebrating what Angelakos plans for the band in the near future — new music.