In a parallel universe, a just-okay band is about to open a gig for someone pretty famous, like Modest Mouse or The Shins. Minutes before this show, you kidnap this band and throw them in the back of an unmarked white van. On the way, you blindfold and handcuff them, and force-feed them triple-dipped acid tablets. When they're about to start tripping, you lock them inside a Japanese photobooth (the kind that superimposes sparkling stars over the pictures) and don't let them out until they write and record a song. They have unlimited quarters to dick around with, but eventually they set to their instruments. Passion Pit is that band and "Sleepyhead" is the result, and after the photobooth incident, their music will never sound the same.

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Since the first time I heard Prints' debut album, I can't picture their songs as anything other than living, breathing humans, all lined up in a row, dressed in curious, mesmerizing outfits. It's a strange fashion show, too: the towering model in the evening gown balances out the lanky hipster sporting running shorts and a headband on the other end of the line. With "Yippy," I can't help but revive that association: the track is snug, slick, allowing exactly as much space as is necessary, and for that reason "Yippy" will be forever stuck in my mind as the image of a man wearing Spandex. Their precision on this track is surreal, so why not show it off by making the production and musicianship as tight as possible? You're going to like this one - poppy, a little silly but gripping as all hell.

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I've got to take Mercury Rev to task for the name of this track because, at least at the outset, this undoubtedly lends the impression of senses underwater. More specifically: all five senses under a sheet of rain. It's not the kind of rain that catches you off guard, drenching your socks; it's more like the downpour you share with a lover or a new friend at night, on a city street lit with globe-shaped streetlamps, each wave of raindrops jolting you with a fresh surge of energy and wonder. Yes, it's a romanticized vision, but then again that's this track in a single word: romance. This may trigger a separate vision for you, but then God bless you for that: to each his or her own daydreams of a glamorous, hyper-sensationalized world.

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