Peter Bjorn and John Album: “Writer's Block [Discantica Japan]”

On their third album, it seems that Peter (Morén), Bjorn (Yttling), and John (Erikkson) have really hit their stride. Writer's Block is an eleven track, forty-five minute gem of an release that mixes styles and dynamics amazingly, shifting between fuzzy shoegazer-style pop (with a 60s style bent), playful male/female sing-alongs, and even some semi lo-fi shufflings that all manage to sound like they belong on the same album. Toss in some very interesting production touches and you've got yourself one of the better pop albums to come out this year.

"Objects of My Affection" follows a short field recording track that opens the release, and kicks things off on a strong foot with guitars that are alternately jangling and full-on hazy guitar sonics. Along with a serviceable rhythm section and some crooning, but slightly nasal vocals, it sounds something like Buddy Holly as re-imagined by Kevin Shields. "Young Folks" was the first single from the album and it's obvious why due to its sheer immediacy. The track starts out sparse, with only a rubbery bass and some crisp drumming backing the vocals of Morén. It slowly morphs, though, as ex-Concretes singer Victoria Bergsman coo's her part, and explodes into something even more vibrant as the two come together for a soaring chorus.

There are plenty of gems on the album, and the release switches up enough to keep things from getting anywhere close to stale. "Amsterdam" is the mid-tempo tumbler that mixes some choppy beats, loopy synths, and the more baritone (and sleepy sounding) vocals of Yttling into another track that invites singing-along. "The Chills" changes things up even more, mixing some more austere synth sounds with some hand percussion and subdued breakbeats while detached vocals fall in alongside the instrumentation almost perfectly.

The only minor stumbling blocks on the album are the short "Start To Melt" (which feels more like the sketch of a great track given the surrounding pieces) and "Poor Cow" (which closes the release on a semi-clunky note), but even those two tracks still have things to enjoy, and surrounding them is a batch of pieces that range from wistful to joyous, often in the same track. An excellent third album from the Swedish trio, Writer's Block should make sure that the group remains in obscurity no more.

(from almost cool music reviews)

I'd been looking for a band similar to the Cardigans, so when the catchy "Young Folks" reeled me in on our local indie rock station here, I decided to get the entire album (well, also after hearing the samples on Amazon). I'd been listening to it sporadically amidst all my other new music purchases (yes, on a music binge again), but bought tickets to an upcoming show thinking "Wow, there's a lot of rich sounds on this record that can't possibly be done live - how will they really sound?", but still, I had a good feeling that this would be a pretty good show. I saw them last night at the House of Blues in San Diego live and they were AMAZING! The small venue was perfect for hearing those beautiful Radiohead-esque guitar distortions, which kind of get muffled out on the record. Peter has a great stage presence and was really energetic! His bouncing around kind of reminded me a little of Thom Yorke. There isn't one bad track on this record although I'm partial to "The Chills", "Amsterdam" and "Objects of my Affection". And yes, "Up Against the Wall" IS in that new LEVI's commercial, but hey, who doesn't like LEVI's? This is their breakout album and they're getting noticed. Hope their next album is as good or better than this one. I'm hooked!

There isn't a single song on this album I dislike. They're all alike in sound, but not too much alike to make each track sound repetitive.

i became turned onto peter bjorn and john the summer of '06 following the release of their "young folks" single, after having heard it on the cutting edge uk radio stations xfm and bbc radio 1. when the full-length "writers block" debuted this fall, i was not one bit disappointed with its changing musical ebbs and flows throughout each well-composed piece. indeed, "young folks" is well matched by the beautiful harmony of tracks like, "up against the wall" and "amsterdam", the latter a tremendous success of an experimental piece produced in delightfully deep octaves and cheerfully low tones. imagine the happiest song ever produced by elo recorded on a 78 lp and played back at 45 speed-- and yet still wonderful to listen to.

the variety of instrumentals, accoustics and charming vocals make this an album that is an absolute must-own for any collection.

I grew up in the age of vinyl and cassettes. It was a time when you couldn't just download the one song ("Young Folks") from the album that you liked. I had to buy entire albums for the one song that I liked, so I typically didn't buy albums from artists that only had one song that I liked. I thought that PB & J were going to be a band that got lucky with one song. I took a chance and bought the entire CD based upon most of the glowing reviews that I read. I was more than happy with my decision. This was my favorite CD of 2008 (even though it was released in 2007). When I listen to their music, it reminds me of other artists, but I'm never quite sure who. This is the beauty of their music. They can borrow from others and make it into their own (kind of like Oasis).