Music Review of Emergency by the Pigeon Detectives

“The Pigeon Detectives” are a five-piece indie rock band from Rothwell, Leeds in England. The Pigeon Detectives are Matt Bowman (Vocals), Oliver Main (Guitars and Backing Vocal), Ryan Wilson (Guitar and Backing Vocal), Dave Best (Bass and Backing Vocal) and Jimmy Naylor (Drums and Backing Vocals). Their music genre are mainly alternative rock, indie rock and garage rock revival and they are signed to Leeds based independent record label Dance To The Radio. Their funny band name? Honestly, i don’t think it’s funny, it’s very unique instead. Speaking of it and according to NME, Drummer Jimmi Naylor stated that he has never like the name, but it grew on him and The Pigeon Detectives started to gain attention due to the silly name. He even mentioned that, “It came from an Australian guy who we met at the Leeds Festival.

Emergency by The Pigeon Detectives is a great successor to its predecessor, Wait For Me. For some, it might even sound better than Wait For Me. It’s kind of funny that you find that The Pigeon Detectives are in some ways, a cross between The Futureheads and The Libertines. The Pigeon Detectives have the raw energy of The Futureheads and the killing guitar hooks of The Libertines. Well The Pigeon Detectives are relatively still new, with only Emergency being their second album, but i’m pretty sure they have a steady growth of fans.

Emergency begins with the guitar-packed “This Is An Emergency”. Matt Bowman can be heard singing, “Don’t make me go, don’t make me go home…” This Is An Emergency is the type of song where it started quiet and slow, eventually when everything is right, it got louder and all the rest of The Pigeon Detectives joined in with, “This Is An Emergency…”. Heavy guitar playing can be heard throughout this track. Definitely a guitar fan will love this track. It may not be the best opening to an album, but hey, This Is An Emergency is good enough to get you asking for more from The Pigeon Detectives.

The second track on Emergency is called “I’m Not Gonna Take This”. It’s a fast tempo track with some fast and start-stop guitar playing. Matt sings, “And im not gonna take it, cause im so sick and tired of you lying, and im not sure if you’re trying for me anymore…” I can see that Matt is frustrated of being lied to over and over again, thus a slight anger can be heard in Matt’s voice. At certain points in I’m Not Gonna Take This, the guitar is being played in a way that it resembles the sound of Indian music where it’s used to control and even hypnotize a snake to perform a snake dance… Perhaps The Pigeon Detectives already got me hypnotized.

“Keep on Your Dress” has a somewhat unique opening to it. Remember a movie which starred Sandra Bullock and called “Ms.Congeniality”? If you can recall, she has a very special talent in that movie, which is making some whistling sound by hovering her hands or palms over half water-filled glasses. Well, Keep On Your Dress has this special sound to it in the beginning. This song is a catchy pop rock ballad which i believe everyone will find it a good listen, especially the guitar which has a hook that is so good.

“Don’t You Wanna Find Out” is another track on Emergency which has some really heavy guitar work and play on it. At times, i find it such a cheerful and happy pop song, especially when Matt goes, “When the sun comes up, there’d be nothing wrong, cause i will be away from you…” Anyone who have not heard of The Pigeon Detectives can start to understand them with Don’t You Wanna Find Out. I thought to myself, don’t you wanna find out more about The Pigeon Detectives?

I like the beginning of “I’ll Be Waiting”, where what sounded like a lazy guitar can be heard until Matt came in with his hyped voice, “I know you think you’re so much better, and we used to get on fine together, now i don’t think that will work, you want to see me in the dirt…” The chorus is even better, together with some light guitar and bass playing, Matt again goes, “I’ll be waiting for you, when you wanna go? When you wanna go?” Honestly, I’ll Be Waiting is such a simple song with some really catchy rhythm and hooks, but things really change, i find myself kind of like this song. Sometimes, it’s simplicity that works like magic.

“She’s Gone” is full of catchy and energetic guitar riff. Whenever i listen to this song, i can imagine that The Pigeon Detectives are having fun with this track. When the chorus comes in, the guitar playing in the background was really good. One of the reasons that The Pigeon Detectives can make it so big is definitely their catchy and ambitious guitar riffs.

“Nothing To Do With You” is a short lovely ballad. In this lovely song, you will discover another side of The Pigeon Detectives. By now you’d have already known that The Pigeon Detectives are awesome with guitars. But Nothing To Do With You expose another side of The Pigeon Detectives. Performed acoustically with the help of acoustic guitars, Matt showed us that he’s equally good even if on acoustic session.

“I’m A Liar” gets it on with start-stop bass line and some guitars which echoed like the sound of reggae. The chorus of I’m A Liar is splendid indeed. Matt goes, “papapa padapa, papapa padapa, i only came here, ’cause I hinder you drinking, darling..” This track is really full of some serious guitar sounds, including the high pitched solo guitar riffing session after the second chorus. I’m A Liar is loud and fun. It wouldn’t be long when you find yourself liking this song. Some serious guitar hooks here.

Emergency continues with “You Don’t Need It”, which its guitar really has some resemblance to those of The Strokes. At first listen to You Don’t Need It, The Pigeon Detectives already got me wanting for more. I just like the whole guitar riffs that were going on throughout this track. Before verse, during verse, during chorus and after chorus. And the rest of The Pigeon Detectives came in and joined the fun and went, “You have me come and go and I just don’t know where I stand, how could you think about me when you’re with another man, oh you don’t need it!..” I wish i can join in as well.

“Say It Like You Mean It” is such a cheerful and happy tune. A fast tempo track where The Pigeon Detectives play at their best. Fast and loud guitar riffs everywhere on this track. The verse of this track is really something. It has the quality to make me wanna sing along as well. If i’m not mistaken, i think Matt is trying to tell a girl to say whatever she was trying to express, thus the lyrics, “Why don’t you say it like you mean it?” This is definitely a track not to be missed if The Pigeon Detectives were to perform live, and you would enjoy this track even on a recording CD version as well. Happy listening.:-D

The title of “Love You For A Day (Hate You For A Week)” is very appealing and after listening to the first track on Emergency, i straight away hit the No.11 button to listen to this track. You see, the title that you chose played a big role as well. Imagine that this track were to be called just “Love You For A Day”. Wouldn’t that be too common for a title? Smart title choice by The Pigeon Detectives. This song is about a couple’s break-up and again, the main instrument that can be heard in Love You For A Day (Hate You For A Week) is guitar. But it’s really good, The Pigeon Detectives know how to play the guitar in style. There are some singing parts in this track that make me wanna sing along as well.

“Making Up Numbers” is yet again another track that contains some heavy guitar riffs. Kind of reminds me Guns and Roses. Every Sentence that Matt sings is followed by some heavy guitars. There’s a catch here in the lyrics, “What the f*ck are we doing here? I’ve made my intentions clear, we should get out while we can.” Seriously if you just read the sentence above, you would know what it means. However, if you look at the lyrics as a whole, it’s hard to understand. Even myself doesn’t get it. Making Up Numbers sounds like another couple’s break-up song yet again. Not a bad effort!

For the first part of “Everybody Wants Me - Draw The Curtain (Hidden Track)”, Everybody Wants Me is sort of catchy with its steady guitar, drums and tempo. It tells the story of a man where he was popular back then when he was young, everybody just wants him.. But he has only one person in his heart. Oh ya, the bass on this track was quite an impression as well. When Draw The Curtain comes alive, it just gets better. Draw The Curtain is an ancoustic track which i think was quite remarkable. The reason i said so? You’ll know when you listen to it. The best part is when The Pigeon Detectives sing together in a band. It’s like they’re having fun with Draw The Curtain as you can hear them laughing and whistling at the end of the track. The end with a happy note!:-D

Rating: Emergency by The Pigeon Detectives is full of energetic guitar riffs. From high pitched ones to those steady hooks. I bet they would leave us all worn out if we were to see them live in a gig or concert. The Pigeon Detectives really make guitars their best friends, with every single track, almost every one of it has some catchy and trademark hooks to it. Considering Emergency is produced less than one year after their debut, they have made Emergency as catchy as possible to whet their fans’ appetite. Even for new fans of The Pigeon Detectives, most likely they’ll have a good impression on Emergency. However to be honest, i find most of their songs forgettable. The Pigeon Detectives are still relatively new, time will tell whether they’ll evolve and grow together as an indie rock band! My rating for Emergency by The Pigeon Detectives would be 6.2 out of 10.

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Don’t You Wanna Find Out, She’s Gone, You Don’t Need It, Say It Like You Mean It and Everybody Wants Me - Draw The Curtain (Hidden Track).

Cheers! 

Darren Tan

Indiesurf.com