For Boston rockers, it’s about the Passion

Hitting the big time in the music business is rather akin to winning the lottery — regardless of whether you struggle against the odds for years or score a major success on a one-off chance, the industry is essentially a crapshoot of epic proportions.

Boston-based band Passion Pit can be considered one of the luckiest entrants after it nailed a record deal and big-name tours less than a year after releasing its first proper recording, 2008’s EP Chunk of Change. Having shot out onto the tour circuit as soon as it put the finishing touches on its debut LP, Passion Pit has had more than enough opportunities to put in the kind of work most bands take years to achieve.

“It’s been an absolutely crazy time,” said bassist Jeff Apruzzese from the band’s bus as it rolled through Kansas. “We’ve been so lucky. Back when Chunk of Change was first released, no one thought we’d be granted these kind of opportunities.”

Indeed, few could have foreseen the rapid explosion in popularity in what started as a creative love letter. Singer and keyboardist Michael Angelakos wrote what would become Chunk of Change and most of Manners as a gift to his then-girlfriend as a sort-of peacemaker back in April 2007. It didn’t take him long to figure out that these weren’t just your regular love odes.

“Most of the material we play nowadays was originally just Michael and his laptop singing these Valentine’s Day tunes, performing in a very folklore sort of way,” Apruzzese explained. “Eventually, he talked to Ian [Hultquist, guitarist] and that led to the rest of us signing on and soon [around May 2008] it was a full-blown group show.”

Shortly after Chunk of Change was released, the hype machine really began to pick up steam. Massive buzz from the Boston music press, “up-and-coming” articles from the likes of MTV and the BBC and the requisite thumbs-up from Pitchfork all contributed to a record deal and one of the most anticipated debuts of the year with Manners.

Unlike many blogosphere sensations that came before them, however, Passion Pit did not disappoint. Manners was well received by critics from Paste Magazine to Rolling Stone, and charted reasonably well for an independent release, especially overseas. It’s dreamy electro-pop — heavily buttressed by an array of synthesizers and highlighted by Angelako’s falsetto tones — was the perfect summer album. Mixing a well-disguised appreciation for mainstream pop melodies with a vibrant electronica flavor and a heavy debt to the ’80s, Manners comes off sort of like MGMT on steroids — a sparkling indie pop factory.

Of course, Passion Pit was already well on the way to cementing its remarkable live show literally moments after finishing Manners.

“The day after we laid down the final vocal tracks in the studio, we were out on the road starting the tour… When we first went out on the road, we were playing 35, 40-minute sets, because we only had about seven or so songs all down,” Apruzzese said, laughing. “We were still learning to play everything, and we were headlining shows. It was definitely rough for a little while.”

But something must have clicked, as Passion Pit was soon receiving rave reviews from across the country for its lively concerts. The young band has already toured with such indie stalwarts as Death Cab for Cutie, Girl Talk and Franz Ferdinand and made prominent festival appearances at Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza last summer.

The group’s own headlining tour, which is set to end next February in Tokyo, has already sold out a number of shows, including the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles tonight. This abrupt rush of fame and media exposure has not been lost on the band, however.

“Just a couple weeks ago I was eating ice cream outside a café in Northampton [Mass.] and Thurston Moore [of Sonic Youth] sat down next to me,” Apruzzese said. “Just to have these huge influences talk to us and tell us how they like our music, it’s crazy. I mean, Bruce Springsteen watched our show at Glastonbury [Festival, in England], and enjoyed it — that’s ridiculous.”

Although Passion Pit has a long way to go before it can finally relax after a rigorous touring schedule, the band remains committed to continuing to build up its group rapport and spread its accessible brand of oddball pop. A thoroughly modern band, Passion Pit has repeatedly used iTunes and other online retailers to promote its music and release bonus tracks. After all, it’s the blogosphere that is largely responsible for their success.

“Internet has taken a hold of music,” Apruzzese said. “It’s had a huge impact on the response of our band — on the Internet, you can develop an instant connection. It’s so easy for people to put music out there, and with Chunk of Change and before Manners it was all Internet buzz. I miss going to a record store and blowing all my money and just spending the day listening to a new record. But at the same time, we’re now playing clubs in the Midwest that we’ve never been to before and selling them out.”

And for good reason. Passion Pit has already proven its not just another blogger flavor of the month, showing a verve for relentless touring and an irresistible urge to entertain. Of course, it helps that the material on Manners has already made it a strong candidate for debut record of the year. Combine that with a band that seems to have an infinite reserve of energy, and you have a force to be reckoned with.

“It’s been pretty exhausting, but we are all loving it,” Apruzzese said. “It’s been a great year, and we’re definitely not slowing down anytime soon.”