Pigeon Pit “Crazy Arms”

Ernest Jennings Record Co, 2025

Frantic and fiery folk-punk tubthumping – with nuance.

Crazy Arms” is the 4th (or 5th) full-length release for Olympia, WA band Pigeon Pit. It is their first since coalescing as a fully-fledged 6-piece band with sights set beyond their immediate locale. De facto leader Lomes Oleanda has observed how the band’s expanding experiences have shaped their development in recent times. Touring Australia and New Zealand, playing a Tiny Desk set and doing shows with Laura Jane Grace have all helped to surface what seems like a more focussed approach and this record feels like a step forward from previous releases as a result. It could almost be labelled as a first ‘proper’ LP – it’s got over 30 mins of music for a start! Crazy Arms is the sound of a band becoming confident in their sound and purpose and really leaning into what it is that defines them.

That’s not to say they have lost any of the chaotic energy that got them noticed in the first place. Oleander encapsulates the way her songwriting has responded to these experiences “all the while, I’m kind of stumbling around the country getting devastated by the immensity of love and humanity as it all falls apart and writing all this new stuff.” The confusion and emotion evident here is all over ‘Crazy Arms’. Oleander’s’ words (and there are a LOT of them on the record) rush out so fast she can hardly keep up with them, sometimes almost stumbling in the rush to express all the notions in her head. As a result it’s a mixed-up record, one minute revelling delightedly in the innate beauty and goodness of the human spirit and the force of love and connection informing it, the next it is angry at the state of the world, the injustice, greed and intolerance that has brought it to this point. ‘Crazy Arms’ never takes the position where it names names or points fingers directly.  Sometimes it seems like it might help if it did make the bad guys more explicit but then we are reminded that it is essentially a record about the messy ‘fucked up’ beauty of the human spirit and such an accusatory tone may get in the way of this sentiment.

What is never in doubt is the heartfelt nature of ‘Crazy Arms’, every syllable uttered and each note played is wrenched, bleeding, from Oleander and the rest of the band’s beating breast. Every second of the record is ‘all in’. Every instrument is pounded, plucked, scraped within an inch of its life, even on the gentler songs. Throughout, they mean it… man. We know how vital it is that our artists ‘mean it’ of course – three chords & the truth and all that. But ‘meaning it’ is not always enough on its own, to either convince or entertain. Fortunately on ‘Crazy Arms’ Pigeon Pit have the chops, the wit and the heart to inform, energise and amuse with their message that ‘the world is going to hell in a handcart but let’s make sure we have a great time anyway and give two fingers to the bastards who are screwing us in the process’.

Vocally and lyrically ‘Crazy Arms’ calls to mind Conor Oberst (that killer quivering warble), Laura Jane Grace (Against Me!) John K Samson (The Weakerthans) or even Patrick Stickles of Titus Andronicus. Their own representation of the supporting vocals on the record as “gang vocals” rather than backing vocals or harmonies offers a fine indicator of what to expect. Sonically though the antecedents are somewhat different, bringing folkier more acoustic (though definitely no less frenzied) vibes to bear. Those listeners with a memory of the UK’s 80s folk-punk goings on may well hear echoes of The Men They Couldn’t Hang, The Radiators and even The Boothill Foottappers resounding from ‘Crazy Arms’. Instrumentation including scratchy fiddle, hammered banjo and guitar and what sound like (but probably aren’t) brushed biscuit tin drums combine to create a sound which echoes both their origins in the Olympia DIY house party scene and the recording process for ‘Crazy Arms’ to a 4-track in the basement of a friend’s house.

Highlighting the basic nature of the recording and passionate performances is not to decry the nuance present. There are moments of gentle tenderness such as the LP closing country ballad ‘Run Your Pockets’ and the stark solo banjo piece ‘Maddy’s Song’. The lovey thread of pedal steel running through the record gives ‘Crazy Arms’ a real sense of swing and a genuine country feel for the first time in the bands repertoire. As Orleander has observed ‘Crazy Arms’ is “more country than the last one…”. She also adds that it’s “more pop punk, it’s more experimental, it’s more of everything.” For a relatively stripped back mostly acoustic record ‘more’ is a surprisingly apposite way to sum up ‘Crazy Arms’ and infinitely pithier than the genre defying ‘anarcho-acousti-punk-country-folkana’ that was as far as your correspondent had got.

Their choice of cover song for the LP, a version of monumental punk rock duo Japanther’s quietest song ‘Alone in the Basement’ is perhaps telling of where they are now and where Pigeon Pit may be headed. They apply the anthemic rock quality of Japanther’s usual sound to their frantic folk-punk thrash. They give the song a fuller sound and a ‘cleaner’ arrangement whilst maintaining the energy and loose basement vibe of the rest of the LP. If not a stadium filler, then it’s definitely a future set closing sing-along killer.

Ultimately ‘Crazy Arms’ is an optimistic and hopeful record. It reflects a wild, visceral engagement with both positive and negative features of the world. It feels urgent, vital and messy – like it’s blurted out without any kind of filter and this is a reflection of the songwriting, the recording and the performances. If we approach this record as a Oleander does, as “a last call for nuance… a final cheers to the human spirit” before ” we all get put against the wall” then it make perfect sense and we should all raise a glass in one hand and two fingers on the other.

7/10
7/10

About Guy Lincoln 87 Articles
Americana, New Country, Alt-country, No Depression, Twangcore, Cow-punk, Neo-traditionalists, Countrypolitan... whatever.
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