Terror Pigeon – “Girl!”

Terror Pigeon - "Girl!"

Terror Pigeon – “Girl!”

Terror Pigeon - "Girl!"

The exclamation point at the end of the song title is essential. For the first few minutes, “Girl!” builds itself up with precision, adding disparate elements and taking them away just as quickly, introducing you to all of the sounds that will eventually burst into the euphoric cacophony that fills the song’s second half. It’s a relationship in song form: the wanting, the waning, and finally the having: its climax is the sound of unabashed joy, the glorious ecstasy of love shouted from the top of Mount Everest. “THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT YOU I WON’T LOVE,” splattered with glitter paint and lit up in flashing neon lights. It’s the happiest, most pure moment of music I’ve heard this year. A song like this forces you to sit up and pay attention, to forge an immediate connection with it. Based on these five minutes of music, I’d follow Terror Pigeon blindly to the ends of the earth.

So, naturally, I had to find out more about them. Here’s the story: formed as Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, it’s a collective that was created in 2008 by then-SUNY Purchase student Neil Fridd. They signed to David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label and put out one full-length in 2010, the charmingly-titled I love you! I love you! I love you and I’m in love with you! Have an awesome day! Have the best day of your life!. They were written up in The New York Times and played shows at SXSW, CMJ, and around DIY venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Their emoji-heavy website shows that they’ve been touring consistently for the past four years since the release of their debut. With “Girl!,” they’ve officially started the rollout for their sophomore album, called Live It Up Before You Die It Up!, which will be released through Nashville-based label Stay Magical. With a song this powerful and intoxicating, hopefully Terror Pigeon won’t stay underground for much longer. Listen.

Live It Up Before You Die It Up! is out 9/23 via Stay Magical. You can pre-order vinyl here.

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