Artist: Pigeon Pit
Album: Leash Aggression
Release: November 07, 2025; Ernest Jennings Record co.
I have always liked Pigeon Pit. They express an interesting mix of folk and punk that is seen as new and unique to the uninitiated. I am always glad when they drop a new album, but I have to be honest, 2025 has been quite the year for them. In January, they released the album, ‘Crazy Arms’ it was fantastic and one that I regret not being able to go back and write a review for. Y’all definitely should go check it out though. Highly recommend. Then, as if seemingly out of nowhere (at least for me anyways), they released this album barely even 11 months later. This is quite the impressive release cadence for a group that has in the past released albums 2-4 years apart. Clearly Pigeon Pit is on the grind and has a lot to say. I, for one, am ready to listen.
I want to start out by say the the fiddle on this album is sublime. It draws emotions out of the air as if by alchemy. The song that best exhibits this is “Return of the White Knuckle Angel”. There is just something about the fiddle in this song that pierces straight through my soul. I get chills the moment the first fiddle note is bowed into existence. Pure visceral longing— honestly is the only way I can describe it. This type of emotional resonance is the prefect punctuation to a song that is about someone who is no longer in Lomes’s life, but who she clearly cares deeply for. This is my favorite song on the album.
Another thing that I love about this album and Pigeon Pit in general is the one liners that are strung throughout the music. “Cherry” has two of the best of the album. The first is “who can you really trust who isn’t 86’d from Ralph’s?” 86’d a term here meaning being banned from Ralph’s, a chain of grocery stores predominantly on the west coast, a subsidiary of the much larger Kroger corporation. 10 words to say you can’t trust people who wont steal food from larger corporations. Or perhaps an implied call to action saying to listeners— Live the beliefs you claim to have or shut up. You can decide for yourself if that means you actually need to steal from corporations. The next line follows shortly after the last and it is “cowards never die, so I guess I’ll just keep seeing you around”. This is perhaps one of the coldest burns I have ever heard set to music and is delivered with nonchalant matter of fact attitude that makes it hit even harder. You can’t even argue with it. People who lack the bravery to stand for something tend to live longer than the people who do. I just love it so much, the line, in a vacuum is stellar in the context of the song, it is another way to highlight the implied call to action from moments earlier. Live with courage, the people you are about are watching.
“Anthill Mode” captures the slice of life feel presented throughout the album the most. It is simply cinematic and awe-inspiring in a way that is relentlessly relatable.
“Leash Aggression” as a whole is an amazing example of slice of life poetry. If it doesn’t make you feel like you are there living alongside Lomes and the cast of characters in her life, it is only because it makes you desperately pine to actually be there passing time with them on the streets of Olympia. The struggles, the monotony, and joy all become strikingly real as the album plays. It is quite magnificent how Pigeon Pit is able to curate these snap shots of life in such a consequential manor.
If you like the album I reviewed here and want to support the artist as well as this blog please consider picking up the album via this affiliate link—> Purchase Leash Aggression By Pigeon Pit digitally via Amazon Music.
