REVIEW -- Artist: Peter Bjorn and John Album: “Writer’s Block” Label: Almost Gold Recordings

Separately, Peter Bjorn and John are Peter Moren, Bjorn Yttling and John Eriksson. Together, they are an unstoppable, timeless pop force!
Peter Bjorn and John’s album “Writer’s Block,” begins with what I assume is a joke. Sixteen seconds of what seems like ambient street noise, and a distant piano riff. It’s the title track! Get it? Right after that bit of somewhat inconsequential sound, the songs kick in. If you are unfamiliar with Peter Bjorn and John, they are a trio of Swedes who do simple, yet stellar rock songs. Imagine a folk trio infused with the garage-rock of the sixties and the shoegazer guitar-wash of the eighties. Flesh that out with some catchy hooks and some nifty whistling, and you get the picture.
These guys know what they are doing. Each one has an extensive resume working in the Swedish rock scene, (Bjorn, for instance played Farfisa for the Caesars, and is set to produce the new Shout Out Louds record. He serves as producer here, too.) You can tell these are three musicians who know exactly what they want to do. They are pros. Sometimes only with two or three chords, they can create indelible melodies which will be stuck in your head for days. In addition, all three members each take their separate turns singing, adding a sense of variety to the mix. It’s no wonder that in the rest of the world “Writer’s Block” was one of the most essential albums of 2006. Here in the U.S., we get a delayed release, (complete with a bonus disc of extra tracks and remixes) so for us it is perhaps the best album thus far in 2007.
“Young Folks” is the big single. It’s a great duet with former Concretes vocalist Victoria Bergsman, which features some funky drumming, a groovy bass-line, and some of that aforementioned whistling. Most reviewers seem to give this track a little too much attention. It’s not that it’s not a great song. It is! It’s that they tend to focus on that track and don’t seem to notice that all of the rest of the tracks around it are equally notable.
“Let’s Call It Off” is represented twice here. Once on the first disc on steel-drum-infused version dubbed as the “single mix,” and then on the second disc we get the more stripped-down, “Nuggets”-worthy “original” version.
“Up Against The Wall” sounds like a feisty, yet sparse audio cage-match between New Order and the Jesus and Mary Chain. It’s over seven minutes in length, but it is so utterly infectious and incandescent that you don’t even notice it’s so long!
“The Chills” is a wonderfully icy dose of electro-fueled new-wave, complete with ghostly background vocals.
“Paris 2004” gets sentimental and sweetly romantic without getting the slightest bit syrupy. The chorus’ refrain of “I’m all about you. / You’re all about me. / We’re all about each other,” nicely sums up the feeling of being in love in an extremely relatable way.
There really isn’t a dud here. What we have here is a sold musical statement with potential multi-generational appeal. Chart-wise, the album is slowly gaining buzz. If there is any justice, it really should end up being one of the biggest indie-rock hits of the year! Go get it!

Favorite Tracks:
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“Up Against The Wall”
“Let’s Call It Off”
“The Chills”
“Young Folks”
“Paris 2004”
“Objects Of My Affection”
“Amsterdam”

Peter Bjorn and John’s website.

Peter Bjorn and John’s myspace page.

Watch the video for “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John with Victoria Bergsman.

Watch the video for “Objects Of My Affection” by Peter Bjorn and John. It’s one of the coolest videos I’ve seen in years! The version of the song is slightly different from the one on the album.

Watch the video for “Let’s Call It Off” by Peter Bjorn and John.