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Emergency is the second album by Leeds band, The Pigeon Detectives. The album was released on 26 May 2008, just under a year after their platinum debut selling album, Wait for Me. The album was produced by Stephen Street who has produced for bands such as Blur, Babyshambles, The Smiths, Feeder and Kaiser Chiefs.
The first single from the album was "This Is an Emergency" on 12 May 2008, which was first played by Radio 1 on 24 March 2008.
The album was subject to an early leak onto the internet on 1 May, and spread via P2P networks. Unlike many early album leaks, the audio files that were distributed on the internet were of a high quality, and not highly compressed files.[citation needed]
The album peaked at number five in its first week but fell out the charts quickly, spending three weeks in the top 40. Following the release of the second single, "Everybody Wants Me", the album re-entered the top 40 again for another three weeks.
User Album Review
Pigeon Detectives return with their second album, two days to the year since the release of debut long-player Wait For Me, and they’ve tackled the difficult second album syndrome by refining the 'Topman indie' formula of its predecessor. Emergency is an album of simple, tightly executed floor-fillers that would sound samey if they weren't so darned catchy. Don’t expect any experimental meanders; if you set aside lofty assertions you'll appreciate the instant appeal of these punchy tracks which will surely find their way into indie discos everywhere. The whole album seems like a fond soundtrack to a night of cheap lager and sticky dancefloors.
Just when you fear the material is becoming too repetitive, three of the best tracks pop up in succession. I'm A Liar, You Don’t Need It and Say It Like You Mean It are stomping blasts, echoing 60s girl groups like the Shangri-Las. However, the disposable hooks become tiring by track 11, and the band could have slimmed the album down to create back-to-back singalong tunes. First offender worth removing is token slow song, Nothing to Do With You, a more forgettable version of the Maccabees' Toothpaste Kisses.
The Pigeons aren't going to win any awards for their lyrics, and most of the unimaginative track titles are lines from the choruses. This may seem a strange bugbear, but with songs like Love You For A Day (Hate You For A Week) you just wish they’d picked something less obvious.
As today's pop scene is saturated with indie schmindie bands it would be easy to slate this album for its lack of originality, but Emergency deserves praise for delivering a consistently high standard of accessible guitar pop. One hit wonders this band ain’t.
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