The Pigeon Detectives – Emergency (2008)

I've written about a certain Indie rock compilation album that I bought almost 10 years ago in Notting Hill Portobello Road market a few times already. It features 100 indie hits, of which, many were already known to me, but it also introduced me to many new bands, The Pigeon Detectives being one of them. I wasn't massively excited about their music, but the couple of songs they had on that compilation made me interested enough to buy this album when I found it shortly after in a record shop in Helsinki with a cheap price. The Pigeon Detectives play quite typical mid-00s indie rock with fast-tempo disco beats and chiming electric guitars. Like Maxïmo Park, The Pigeon Detectives also sing in a strong Northern accent, which makes these two bands sound very similar. Although, Pigeon Detectives sing in Yorkshire. I really like it when you can hear the accent clearly in music.



There's maybe nothing very special about Pigeon Detectives' music, but they are definitely good at what they're doing. the sounds are carefully crafted and melodies are very catchy. The album is produced by Stephen Street who has previously produced bands like The Smiths, Blur and Kaiser Chiefs. The Pigeon Detectives didn't become quite as big as those bands, but I like their music and that's really what matters to me.

The album starts with the biggest hit from the album, the almost title-track This Is an Emergency. There is a good contrast between the dark verse and the catchy chorus. There is a brilliant bridge part taking you to the chorus that sounds explosive in the face of rest of the song. I'm Not Gonna Take This starts out with very familiar sounding bass and guitar combo that reminds me of bands like Interpol or Kaiser Chiefs. Again, the chorus has lots of power compared to the rest of the song, which reminds me of The Wombats. Keep on Your Dress takes the tempo down a bit and we can even hear some acoustic guitars in the background. I think the band works even better when there's more space to hear the different instruments. Don't You Wanna Find Out continues the more fast-tempo drumming. I like the bass line that seems to have lots of slides. I'll Be Waiting sounds quite a lot like Kaiser Chiefs and the song builds up brilliantly. She's Gone goes a bit punkier and there are even similarities to early 80s ska bands in style. Nothing to Do With You is one of my favourite songs on the album. It's mostly an acoustic song that really brings the accent forwards. It also shows that this band can get out of their usual guitar riffs if they want to. I'm a Liar has a fantastic fast-tempo chorus that has even more power when contrasted against the bouncy verse. Say It Like You Mean It has a melody that sounds a lot like Leaving on a Jet Plane, but it's altered just slightly and the sounds and tempo are completely different. The album ends with Everybody Wants Me, which is one of the most hit-potential song on the album.

The music video of This Is an Emergency is kind of cool. It shows four squares where we see various instruments being played. This gives the viewer a close-up view of the different layers of instruments in the song. As a musician myself, I'm always fascinated to see close-up how different instruments are being played.

As those song descriptions above reveal. This album is pretty much back to back energetic package. It's difficult nowadays to find situations where this sort of music would be exactly what I'm in to, but whenever I do listen to it, it sounds pretty great!

Listen to the album on Spotify.