''Passive Me, Aggressive You'' (stylised as ''Passive Me • Aggressive You'') is the debut studio album by New Zealand

indie electronic Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

The Naked and Famous The Naked and Famous are a New Zealand indie electronic band from Auckland, formed in 2007. The band currently consists of Alisa Xayalith (vocals, keyboards) and Thom Powers (vocals, guitars). The band has released four studio albums: ''Passi ...

. It was released on 6 September 2010 by Somewhat Damaged. The album debuted at number one on the

New Zealand Albums Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

. The album spawned four singles: "All of This", " Young Blood", " Punching in a Dream" and "Girls Like You"; with "Young Blood" peaking at number one on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Music ...

Composition

''Passive Me, Aggressive You'' is a synth-pop and

electro-rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s, when rock bands began incorporating electronic instrum ...

album, drawing from the genres of

dance-rock Dance-rock is a dance-infused genre of rock music. It is a post-disco genre connected with pop rock and post-punk with fewer rhythm and blues influences. It originated in the early 1980s, following the decline in popularity of both punk and disc ...

, and featuring

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

influences. "Young Blood" is a synth-pop song, while "Punching in a Dream" is of the

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

genre. "Spank" is psychedelic rock.

Singles

The first single from ''Passive Me, Aggressive You'', "All of This", was released on 16 November 2009, almost a year prior to the album's release. " Young Blood" was released as the album's second single on 7 July 2010, debuting at number one on the

and spending two consecutive weeks atop the chart. " Punching in a Dream" was released as the third single on 23 August 2010, reaching number 11 in New Zealand. The album's fourth and final single, "Girls Like You", was released on 5 June 2011.

Critical reception

Chris Schulz from

Stuff.co.nz Stuff is a New Zealand news media website owned by newspaper conglomerate Stuff Ltd (formerly called Fairfax). It is the most popular news website in New Zealand, with a monthly unique audience of more than 2 million. Stuff was founded in 20 ...

awarded ''Passive Me, Aggressive You'' five out of five stars, and praised its production and variety of musical styles.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Matt Collar praised the songs' catchy choruses and, awarding the album four-and-a-half out of five stars, concluded, "there's nothing passive about how much you could aggressively love this band". Scott Kara of ''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspaper ...

'' rated ''Passive Me, Aggressive You'' a perfect five stars, summarising "Forget the hype. It's real". ''

The Nelson Mail ''The Nelson Mail'' is a 4-day a week newspaper in Nelson, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. It was founded in 1866 as ''The Nelson Evening Mail''; the first edition was published on 5 March 1866. It absorbed another local paper, '' ...

'' Nick Ward called ''Passive Me, Aggressive You'' "Unconvincing, but with flashes of promise". Writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Mark Baumont described the album as "a glorious melting pot of pop perfection" and added "TN&F’s passive melodicism and aggressive innovation clash in a dazzling blaze of psych/sonic fireworks." The album was nominated for the 2011

Taite Music Prize The Taite Music Prize is an annual New Zealand music award event. It features the same-named prize awarded for the best album from New Zealand. The prize is named after respected New Zealand music journalist and broadcaster Dylan Taite, who die ...

.''

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the

on 13 September 2010, and was knocked off the top spot by Linkin Park's '' A Thousand Suns'' the following week.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Passive Me, Aggressive You''.

The Naked and Famous

* Aaron Short *

Alisa Xayalith Alisa Xayalith (born 24 August 1986) is a New Zealand musician, and is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player for New Zealand indie electronic band The Naked and Famous. Early life Xayalith was born in New Zealand, an ...

* David Beadle * Jesse Wood * Thom Powers

Technical

* Thom Powers – production, engineering * Aaron Short – production, engineering * Olly Harmer – additional engineering *

Billy Bush William Hall Bush (born October 13, 1971) is an American radio and television host. He is a member of the Bush family, a nephew of President George H. W. Bush and cousin of President George W. Bush and Florida governor Jeb Bush. After appearin ...

– mixing *

Emily Lazar Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for ...

– mastering *

Joe LaPorta Joseph J. LaPorta (born ) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey.http://www.allmusic.com/artist/joe-laporta-mn000199340/credits/date-asc/ Career Born and raised in New York, LaPorta graduated from New York Unive ...

– mastering

Artwork

* Special Problems – artwork, design, video

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2010 debut albums Fiction Records albums The Naked and Famous albums Universal Republic Records albums