Swedish trio Peter, Bjorn & John struck gold with their inescapably catchy 2006 breakthrough, Writer\u2019s Block, <\/i>which featured the equally infectious single \u201cYoung Folks\u201d along with a slew of other handclap-accented, breezy indie pop songs. Follow-up Living Thing<\/i> is the other side of the coin; chock full of stuttering synths, brooding (and occasionally bitter) lyrics, and heavy clatters of programmed drums. Not really so lighthearted, to say the least, but this disc is an intriguing departure from their previous and an unexpected but mostly successful artistic development.<\/p>\n
This album\u2019s early press came courtesy of one Kanye West, who blogged about lead single \u201cNothing To Worry About.\u201d Turns out, West was right on with his effusive praise; it opens with a twisted children\u2019s chorus and spare electro accompaniments, but quickly becomes unsettling as the title repeats, growing more strained as the song warbles toward its close. Next single \u201cLay It Down\u201d is undoubtedly the album\u2019s standout, and an absolute 180 from anything off of Writer\u2019s Block. <\/i>Replacing hooky whistling with bone-crunching synths and boasting one of the boldest kiss-off choruses in recent memory (\u201cHey, shut the fuck up, boy \/ You are starting to piss me off \/ Take your hands off that girl \/ You have already had enough\u201d), this track is oddly radio-catchy \u2013 and the accompanying video is even more oddly awesome, with the band dancing awkwardly in masks. <\/p>\n
There\u2019s a sort of Depeche Mode feel to Living Thing <\/i>in the instrumentation\u2019s dark synthesizers and chunky drum loops. Album opener \u201cThe Feeling\u201d is all \u201880s synth-driven moodiness, while follow-up \u201cIt Don\u2019t Move Me\u201d subverts their signature handclaps into something undoubtedly more ominous with hollow-sounding drums, echoing piano lines, and the refrain \u201c When history is done \/ And everything is over \/ What used to keep us warm \/ Is slowly growing colder.\u201d <\/p>\n
Adding new avenues into the PB&J aesthetic, the album\u2019s title track takes a classic ELO tune by the same title and riffing on it with relentlessly energetic, South African-influenced beats. It\u2019s undoubtedly the most carefree, soaring height the group reaches on this release, and paired with the earnest and sunny \u201cI Want You!,\u201d provides a nice respite from the alternate bleakness and feistiness that preceded. Meanwhile, \u201cStay This Way\u201d is a deceptively light standout; propelled by slow finger-snapping and languorous harmonies, the song initially seems fairly spare, but Peter Mor\u00e9n earnestly singing \u201cI don\u2019t wanna go back \/ I don\u2019t wanna move on \/ I don\u2019t wanna grow up \/ I don\u2019t wanna stay young\u201d makes it hit home and proves the group\u2019s ability to craft seamless and subtle pop songs. <\/p>\n
Whether they\u2019re weaving in stabbing electro beats or whistling, pissed off or hopelessly in love, PB&J is an inventive, enduring group. Living Thing<\/i> may be a little more difficult to dig into than the accessible, sweeping melodies of Writer\u2019s Block, <\/i>but no matter \u2013 the songs will still stick with you long after this is done playing.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":29830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7998],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-41445","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-peter-bjorn-and-john","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41445"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}