The Pigeon Detectives
Wait For Me

THE REVIEW

By now, the "next big things" trumpeted by the NME are countless.

This year, in this category, a prominent place has definitely been earned by The Pigeon Detectives (surely winning the gold medal for the most idiotic band name of the century), hailing from Rothwell (Leeds) and creators of one of the most appreciated debuts in their homeland in the year 2007, which is now drawing to a close, this "Wait For Me," recorded at Soundworks Studios.

Led by frontman Matthew Bowman and endorsed by the "more renowned" Kaiser Chiefs, the five produce a debut work that deviates very little from the British wave of the last three-four years, started by the disbanded The Libertines.

The Detectives' music is nothing original or revolutionary, and "Wait For Me" presents piece after piece the same blend of glorious past British groups (the usual names: Kinks, Jam, Clash, Small Faces, Who, etc.) and more recent things (Blur, of course, but also the more raucous Charlatans and the very recent and overused Arctic Monkeys). Unfortunately, nothing shines for originality or personality, although the disc, if played at a party, works (obviously) great.

So, what has allowed the "little pigeons" to immediately land in the "top five" and sell nearly two hundred thousand copies in the UK alone?

It's easy to say: a few clever and well-timed appearances (as a support band alongside names such as Dirty Pretty Things and the Kaiser Chiefs themselves) even at prominent festivals like Reading and Leeds, two singles that calling them fitting is an understatement like "Romantic Type", the album's opener, and "I Found Out", which even got some airplay in Italy, and the hit is well served.

All according to plan: the guitars bounce and scratch, and in "Don't Know How To Say Goodbye" yet another, predictable plagiarism of "Lust For Life" pops up (good old Iggy may one day decide to equip himself with an effective automatic weapon and do some justice, maybe starting with the Jet).

The fact that the album flows moderately pleasantly (thanks also to the duration of the individual pieces, anchored around the usual two-three minutes, maximum four) doesn't distract from the fact that the Detectives seem to play the same song thirteen times, although they sometimes try to vary by inserting things like a sudden and improbable acoustic finale in the pulsating "Caught In Your Trap."

In "Stop Or Go," then, they mimic the Chiefs so blatantly that they become downright annoying and inappropriate. There's even a "You Better No Look My Way" that heavily catapults us back to the nineties of Damon Albarn, yet without enthusiasm, however.

Predictable, too predictable this debut. Sure, the positive aspect is that they can only get better, but the lack of personality and courage of this band seems like an unfortunately insurmountable void.

Happy, of course, in case of any contradiction.