 Recently, Peter Bjorn and John along with Concretes’ vocalist Victoria Bergsman performed the song “Young Folks” on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” I had always found Peter Bjorn and John to be quite dull, but after watching this performance, the band had me hooked.
The band’s latest release, Writer’s Block, seems to have the same affect. At first the album seems a bit flat sounding and boring, but after each listen another song, or part of a song anyway, gets stuck in your head. The single and by far the catchiest song on the album is “Young Folks.” Even though this song is not the first on the album it will be without a doubt the first you will be singing, or should I say whistling, over and over. It is a very pop-based love song about a relationship just taking off, but in no way does this auspicious duet represent the rest of the album. (Even though it is a great single, because you whistle the same part over and over until you want to break the record in half.)
Actually, this song is completely misleading, the rest of the album is slow and at times has a fairly depressing manor. Tracks like the seven minute “Up Against the Wall” and “Let’s Call it Off” showcase the band’s true talent and their great song writing abilities.
Overall, the Swedish boys, who claim they accidentally chose the initials PB and J, do a very good job their Writer’s Block. The album is fairly well produced and I will be interested to see where they go from here. Honestly, I am hoping for a sort of Belle and Sebastian progression where the band becomes happier sounding as they get older.
Just to let you know Girl Talk made a great remix of “Let’s Call it Off.” Check it out at myspace.com/girltalkmusic
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