Beat me up
Amongst The Pigeons new record is an interesting mash of beats and loops speckled with the odd vocal but for the most part instrumental and quite ambient. Most of the tracks are pretty short, clocking in at a couple of minutes each, enough time to pack in a slew of squidgy noises and perhaps a vocal sample and to fade out one block of beats and bring in another, most of the tunes follow a similar pattern.
This can feel like quite a sterile record, with a minimal feel and no ‘live instruments’ it often feels like there is nothing to connect to emotionally, the experimental nature is enticing but can really leave you cold if you’re in the mood for something to lift your mood or feed your soul. The quirky, playful scrapbook-like nature of each track; following one path before breaking up into something else, can bring to mind the exaggerated experimentation of The Orb, or KLF, fading from tune to broken beat to distorted noise and back. Track seven ‘Larkin About’ features vocals from Frank Turner, this is the most cohesive and tuneful track on the album, probably because it’s the only one with a melody and explores musically a poem by Philip Larkin.
"Music To Brush Your Teeth To" is an intelligent record, calling on many different influences and recorded out of the studio (in planes, hotel rooms and other random locations) which probably adds to the quirky aspect and the fuzzy production, making it feel quite real and solid for an album of electronica. It isn’t an album that is easy to sit down by yourself and listen to in full though as it is very cold and unforgiving and doesn’t elicit any kind of emotional response, more a kind of thoughtful chin stroking and head nodding. It is full of interesting ideas and worth your time though.