Wednesday 28 May 2008

Album Review: Emergency - The Pigeon Detectives


An album a year after the last one, surely this is a great chance for me to wheel out lots of the usual clichés (I am Cliché Boy after all) such as you have 20 odd years to write your first album and then 12 months to do your second one. However, the music industry is changing and now by the time a band release their first album, they've usually been around a while and re-released their "best" song twice. So while it may seem like they've only had twelve months to write it, they may in fact have had up to three years.

Whether the title Emergency is supposed to be a symbol of this quick-to-release album I'm not sure. I can picture Smashey and Nicey saying "well mate, they've got a sense of urgency, they're The Pigeon Detectives and they've got an Emergency, in at number 5". On both albums the emergencies seem to be related to women and generally the urgency to get them in to bed. Although on this album they do talk about the woman keeping her dress on and I don't think that's just to make things a bit different in the bedroom.

With the first album clocking in at around 30 minutes, I was expecting the same from this album and it nearly is, in more ways than one. Even with 13 tracks it still doesn't get me from home to work, lasting about 40 minutes. It's the same upbeat tempo but I guess it's like going to see them live when they've had a big night the night before - it's slightly slower than normal but is still a lot more upbeat than most bands. And I think that's where it fails to live up to their debut "Wait For Me", it's just that bit longer and with their sound no longer sounding as fresh.

Overall, on first impressions (well, I've listened to it about 5 times) I'd say that if you were in to them before you'll like this. The songs follow a similar formula and I like that, they're not trying to break new ground but I don't think they're the sort of band you'd expect to do that. "I'm Not Sorry" is replaced with "Everybody Wants Me" and the message remains the same. He effs and jeffs in one song but the fun and enjoyment is still there to be heard by all.

If you haven't seen them live I definitely recommend it, they're serial stage divers so watch your heads. Oh and any band whose last words on the album are "you bell end" are alright with me.

Buy the album from Play.com/ for £7.99 here

Download last song on album (including secret track): here

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