Passion Pit

Tripped-out samples culled from around the world and then sped up, high-register vocals that recall the Danielson Famile, the whole spectrum of electronic percussion, fat club synthesizers, a subtle but undeniable prog-rock feel -- Passion Pit are damn near the weirdest band ever to come out of Cambridge, Mass. Formed in 2007, the five-piece electronic dance-pop subversives made an immediate splash in critics' polls on the strength of the inescapably fun, oddly exotic "Sleepyhead" and "Better Things," which takes the giddy happiness of Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" and presumably shoves steroids down its throat. The band debuted on wax in 2008 with the Chunk of Change EP. A full-length, Manners, followed a year later, with Passion Pit making the successful crossover into the world of TV ads (PlayStation) and appearances (in the U.K., anyway).