Singles Spotlight:
Pigeon Pit –
“Anthill Mode”

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Today, we’re excited to discuss someone else who is making some great music: Pigeon Pit. I’ll let the press release from their album, Leash Aggression, that came out November 7th via indie label Ernest Jenning Record Company, take it from here, beautifully describing the project, “Pigeon Pit is the self-described ‘maximalist journaling’ songwriting project of Olympia, WA front-woman Lomes Oleander. With a scrapbook approach to storytelling, Oleander pieces together vignettes of a contemplative struggle for self-acceptance throughout her life: From the anarchic punk scene of surf town Santa Cruz, CA that served as her foundation in the early 2010’s, to chemical escapism in dank basements in Seattle, bouncing throughout queer North American counter-culture by old cars and freight trains, and teaching kindergarten.” I love all of that. Don’t you as well? If that bio didn’t get you ready to learn more and listen to the music, what will?

The release further broke down the bands’ sound, songwriting, and themes, saying, “Artistically reinvigorated by a temporarily debilitating injury in 2020, Oleander began fleshing out her sound with a full band featuring violin and pedal steel guitar on Feather River Canyon Blues, channeling both psychedelic country and DIY pop pun, evoking Gram Parsons, the Weakerthans, and PS Eliot. In songs exploring queerness, grief, attachment, and political struggle for a better world, Pigeon Pit maintains a DIY ethos, playing packed intimate punk house basements and free generator shows while also making an appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk and touring with Laura Jane Grace and AJJ.”  Check out that NPR Tiny Desk concert and series in general. We can’t advocate for that enough.

In January 2025, the six-piece folk-punk band Pigeon Pit, consisting of Lomes Oleander (vocals, guitar), Olive Hannah (drums), Josh Hoey (bass), Maddy Bun (banjo), Bo Lark (fiddle), and Jim Rhian (pedal steel), released the project’s fourth album and first album of 2025, Crazy Arms. It’s a solid release that squeezes in field recordings of birds and laughter amidst a layered soundscape. The melodies prominently featured an electric guitar as well as sneaking in some perfect cello. In my opinion, the album is definitely worth a listen. And what most were calling their most focused and complete album yet. Within their album bio on Bandcamp, Oleander said, “It’s last call for nuance before we all get put against the wall, so I’ll just cheers to the human spirit: we’re all fucked up and crazy people. Let’s get wild with it and love our humanity while we can, all our contradictions and flaws that make us real. This is a bunch of love songs for how fucked up we are, and how beautiful it is how we try anyway. How we struggle every day to change our shared reality, to produce a world around us that makes sense to us. When you see a genocide unfolding on your phone, see fascism and AI swallowing up reality, and you force yourself to push it down and not respond to your humanity inside you that calls you to intervene, when it feels like there’s nothing you can do, that’s what kills the human spirit. Because that force of love and cooperation is humanity, that’s what makes sense inside of us. Giving a shit is the unpopular opinion. I’m just writing about what it feels like for me to try to hang on in a world that’s trying to kill the human spirit.” Check it out on their Bandcamp page. 

On Leash Aggression, the band shows off even more of its range. The focus on this album is set for a more live listening experience, with less instrumentation and a rawer punk sound. And a more folk sound than on Crazy Arms. The lyrics are also more laser-focused on political causes. Oleander talks of “love for humanity, rather than fear of certain futures, as a political motivator” and “hope as an invitation to act in the face of bleakness, instead of something made impossible by it.” This album features Eva on fiddle instead of Bo Lark. You can see the complete list of credits after the song track listing.

I listened to Leash Aggression multiple times, and I love the punk-folk throughout the album. In my opinion, one of the best songs on Leash Aggression is “Anthill Mode.” It’s such a great song, from Oleander’s guitar-strumming intro to her punk-folk vocals. Maddy’s banjo work, as well as Eva’s fiddle, really add beautiful depth to the melody. The lyrics feature the phrase that the album title is based on, along with vivid imagery, descriptions, and a fully formed narrative. I fell in love with the song fairly quickly during my first listen, but fully appreciated the musicianship and melodic shifts on my second. I knew the song and the band had to be part of SWT’s Singles Spotlight series! There’s really not a bad song on this album, listener. I think “Anthill Mode” is the perfect intro to Pigeon Pit.

Song #6 on Leash Aggression “Anthill Mode” is our Spotlight today:

(Thanks, Pigeon Pit and DistroKid)

The cover art for Leash Aggression:

The tracklist for Leash Aggression:

1. Last Night on Planet Earth (1:26)
2. People On The Bus (1:51)
3. Thread The Needle (3:36)
4. Cherry (3:28)
5. Rearview Mirror Blues (3:27)
6. Anthill Mode (3:20)
7. Go Ahead Then! Beat Me To Death! (2:26)
8. Landlord Special (2:47)
9. Return of the White-Knuckle Angel (3:20)
10. Tangerine (2:51)

Giving credit where it’s due. Leash Aggression Album credits:

• Lomes: guitars, voice, piano, songwriter
• Olive: drums
• Josh: bass
• Eva: fiddle
• Jim: harmonica
• Maddy: banjo
• Leash Aggression was recorded at the end of August 2025 by Capt. Tripps Ballsington in Olympia, WA, and was mastered by Carl Saff in Chicago, IL.
• Released by Ernest Jenning Record Co.

Alex M Theel

Co-Founder, Reviewer, Content Creator, Business side, Editor at Scummy Water Tower Productions | Web

Scummy Water Tower Productions co-founder, reviewer, business manager, and editor. Thank you for visiting this site: scummywatertower.com, and YouTube for Water Tower Sessions!
Contact me: alex@scummywatertower.com