Toronto-based indie rock band The Vaniers‘ latest single, “Pigeons,” is a sneaky and mischievous story of a guilty conscience. Not stopping at anything less than what you desire can be a problem or, for the individuals in the song, an opportunity: “All the things we wish we never said / And yet it makes no difference to an indecisive mind / I’m just a whisper on the telephone I said / I’ve been here once or twice.”
Former high school classmates Diego Paz (bass guitar/vocals), Alex Iacobellis (guitar), and Nick Donato (drums) take inspiration from bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, and Cage The Elephant, proving they’re on the alternative rock spectrum. But “Pigeons” has much more of a The Kooks vibe, which fits right in, yet is slightly more mellow and carefree in the energy found in the strumming and plucking patterns in the chorus and bridge of the song.
“I’m not surprised / Only when the sun don’t shine / We can try to find a place to hide / Something in those eyes / Tells me she’s another’s / Something in the way she walks / Something in the way she talks / Something in those eyes / Tells me she’s another’s / And I could be the other.”
Some of those last lyrics remind me of The Beatles‘ “Something,” and there is, well, something quite romantic about it. But there is a moral push and pull to the message here. What is wrong in some people’s books, is right in others. Love can be found in places we never expected it to be – and in this case, there is something addictingly toxic about it.
The toxicity shines through when you hone in on the lyrics, but otherwise, the instrumentals sell us on a laid-back, chill situation (where cheating may or may not be at play) that could take a turn for the worse at any moment. When one is blinded by love, there is no telling what comes next.
