Biography
Pigeons formed as an experimental indie pop outfit in the Bronx, New York. Their sound centers on a hazy strain of lo-fi psych-folk that draws from French pop sources and regularly weaves in flutes, drum machines, and guitar feedback, though later work revealed more focused playing and composition. Personnel has changed across the years, at times pulling in musicians from No-Neck Blues Band and Pelt, yet the constant core has remained guitarist and vocalist Wednesday Knudsen alongside multi-instrumentalist Clark Griffin, both of whom have also worked with the experimental collective the Sea Donkeys.
The band first surfaced in the mid-2000s through limited-run cassettes and lathe-cut vinyl issued on Clark Griffin’s Moran Tape Label. Their debut album, Virgin Spectacle, appeared in 2008 on engineer Jason Meagher’s Black Dirt Records and included Carter Thornton of Enos Slaughter among the players. Shortly afterward they joined the Minneapolis roster of Soft Abuse and issued the 7" EP Lunettes in 2009. The following year opened with the LP Si Faustine on Olde English Spelling Bee plus a tape released through the blog Chocolate Bobka’s Curatorial Club series. After Thornton departed, the remaining duo put out two further 7"s—Visions of the Valley on Soft Abuse and Hearts on Olde English Spelling Bee—along with the full-length Liasons on Soft Abuse, all within 2010.
In 2011 the lineup grew once more to include Meagher and drummer Ben Bogan, while Nathan Bowles of Black Twig Pickers, Spiral Joy Band, and Pelt sat in for live shows. Japanese imprint Sixteen Tambourines put out the limited cassette No Shore in July of that year. Toward year’s end Soft Abuse released the full-length They Sweetheartstammers, which carried a denser and more psychedelic tone than earlier recordings. Once the album was finished the rhythm section moved into Steve Gunn’s touring band and Knudsen with Griffin relocated from the Bronx to upstate New York. Knudsen also appeared on the debut album by Black Dirt Oak, an experimental folk supergroup that featured Bowles and Gunn together with members of Suntanama, No-Neck Blues Band, and additional ensembles. Rob Smith of Rhyton stepped in as the new drummer, and the resulting trio tracked their fifth LP, The Bower, in 2014; Meagher handled mixing at his Black Dirt Studio. MIE Music issued the record in spring 2015, and Soft Abuse followed with the 7" single “Buoy” later that summer.
The band first surfaced in the mid-2000s through limited-run cassettes and lathe-cut vinyl issued on Clark Griffin’s Moran Tape Label. Their debut album, Virgin Spectacle, appeared in 2008 on engineer Jason Meagher’s Black Dirt Records and included Carter Thornton of Enos Slaughter among the players. Shortly afterward they joined the Minneapolis roster of Soft Abuse and issued the 7" EP Lunettes in 2009. The following year opened with the LP Si Faustine on Olde English Spelling Bee plus a tape released through the blog Chocolate Bobka’s Curatorial Club series. After Thornton departed, the remaining duo put out two further 7"s—Visions of the Valley on Soft Abuse and Hearts on Olde English Spelling Bee—along with the full-length Liasons on Soft Abuse, all within 2010.
In 2011 the lineup grew once more to include Meagher and drummer Ben Bogan, while Nathan Bowles of Black Twig Pickers, Spiral Joy Band, and Pelt sat in for live shows. Japanese imprint Sixteen Tambourines put out the limited cassette No Shore in July of that year. Toward year’s end Soft Abuse released the full-length They Sweetheartstammers, which carried a denser and more psychedelic tone than earlier recordings. Once the album was finished the rhythm section moved into Steve Gunn’s touring band and Knudsen with Griffin relocated from the Bronx to upstate New York. Knudsen also appeared on the debut album by Black Dirt Oak, an experimental folk supergroup that featured Bowles and Gunn together with members of Suntanama, No-Neck Blues Band, and additional ensembles. Rob Smith of Rhyton stepped in as the new drummer, and the resulting trio tracked their fifth LP, The Bower, in 2014; Meagher handled mixing at his Black Dirt Studio. MIE Music issued the record in spring 2015, and Soft Abuse followed with the 7" single “Buoy” later that summer.
Albums
Clay Heaven
2018
Buoy
2015
They Sweetheartstammers
2011
Liasons
2010
Visions of the Valley
2010
Si Faustine
2010
Singles
