Monster Zero, 04 Aug 2022
The Pigeon Boys sound like they might be both lovers and fighters on DETOX / RETOX.
The Pigeon Boys wanna keep you on your toes. Having kicked around Austria for a while now, the band has figured out how to bounce around between cathartic, aggressive almost-street punk blasts, fast-paced pop punk songs, and catchy pop-heavy nuggets, all filtered through a Ramones lens. On DETOX / RETOX, they deploy the shifts with aplomb and the album powers through without growing the least bit stale.
“Dr. Brutal” leads with the tough sound. It’s got a jackhammer drive to it that just feels demolishing while rough-around-the-edges vocals keep up admirably. Beyond a slightly memorable phrasing, the song has no real hint of catch. It’s just reveling in intensity. “I Don’t Know” is a rampaging stomper that sounds tough and ravaged, but with a little more melody to the proceedings than the aforementioned “Dr. Brutal”, and it’s pretty terrific. Same goes for the rough-and-tumble blitzing of “Do It Right”.
Songs like “I Wish That” plays with the same sorta pace that’s heard on “Dr. Brutal”, but there’s a catchiness to the cleaner vocal melody, making it more of a pop punk number that wouldn’t sound outta place on 90s-era Fat Wreck. “Teenage Romance” and “Isn’t it Funny How People Suck” sorta fall in this same vein. Both are fairly catchy speed punk numbers, though the super effective “whoa-oh’s” on “Suck” set it apart and help it hit right.
And when they want, they can lean even harder into the pop side, as evidenced by “The Day You Gave Me Your Heart”. This impeccable pop tune has some of the best-sounding drums on DETOX / RETOX, coupled with vocal melodies and backing vocals that fit in place like a puzzle. It’s maybe my favorite song on here. “Spaceship” is similar, again very catchy, but it doesn’t have quite the same stick-to-my-brain-ness of “The Day You Gave Me Your Heart”. “My Heart Is Beating For You” follows up the former with an even harder attempt at pop, slowing down considerably and using double-tap snares while anguished vocals go overtop. This tender song doesn’t hit perfectly every time I listen, but when I’m in the right place it does, and I really love it. The surf-tinged “The Night Himo Died” is a fantastic pop punk song that doesn’t miss a beat and the “ooh-ooh-ooh’s” and chorus of “Pickup Truck” are pretty endearing, too. Then, at the end, when the Beach Boys-indebted harmonies on closer “Down From Here” beam in, there’s a cool moment of pure pop bliss.
DETOX / RETOX is a good ride. It’s the sorta album that you can put on and listen through without ever feeling like you should get up and skip a song. And the best songs of the bunch here are positively fantastic. This is a fun one for sure.
Favorite song: “The Day You Gave Me Your Heart”
Favorite moment: the Beach Boys-style harmonies on “Down From Here”
Favorite whatever else: the ever-so-slightly surf-tinged guitars on “The Night Himo Died”
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
