Passion Pit’s debut album can seem to come on like a big, friendly dog slobbering you with kisses: one part “Eww, too much!” and two parts “Aww, I can’t resist!” Manners’ day-glo playground lite-funk desperately wants to be loved, stopping at nothing (Children’s choirs! Velveeta disco synths! Smoove sax samples!) to deliver high-fructose hooks straight to the part of the brain that lusts after Froot Loops and chocolate milk. But helium-voiced frontman Michael Angelakos keeps the whole affair from collapsing into diabetic shock by grounding it in an undercurrent of melancholy, howling lyrics about loss and decay with the kind of roof-raising sincerity shared by the likes of U2 and Arcade Fire. At times, an almost celestial beauty comes frothing out (“Moth’s Wings”, “Make Light”); at others, the ants-in-your-pants enthusiasm overwhelms (“Little Secrets”, “The Reeling”). This is music that begs to be shared with as many people as possible. The more Passion Pit’s star rose throughout 2009, the more all was right with the universe.