Whistle Peter Bjorn and John’s 2006 hit ‘Young Ones’ to someone and they will most likely want to buy a tin of emulsion. Despite that song (and subsequent album) bringing them wider attention they have a pair of albums either side of this watershed moment – but could your mum and dad whistle one off these albums?
What PB&J have done throughout their career (save the more experimental inclinations of 2009’s ‘Living Thing’) is craft brutally simple yet arresting indie pop, and long-player number six, ‘Gimme Some’, is no different.
The collection of songs here have the Swedish trio’s trademark unpredictability in that you’re never quite sure where their effortless melodies are going to go next. ‘Tomorrow Has to Wait’ bursts into a defiant chorus; ‘Dig a Little Deeper’ possesses some of Vampire Weekend’s tropical funk zipping about overhead; and ‘Eyes’ is so gloriously carefree Bowlegs defies you not to grin like a Cheshire cat who has just fallen into a vat of cream.
The group’s conflicting interests are married perfectly on ‘Down Like Me’, as grand chords are hi-jacked by jarring feedback, and it serves as the perfect bridge between 60s pop and 90s indie. It all seems so easy to them and it is no wonder they have turned out six albums in nine years.
They do throwaway too. ‘Breaker, Breaker’ and ‘Black Book’ both clock in at under two minutes, the former still wearing its pop heart on its sleeve while the latter is more reminiscent of fellow Swedes The Hives’ brand of wild-eyed, jittery angst.
When they’re not winning you over with all that Scandinavian pop precision they are also masters of the melancholy. ‘Second Chance’ has single written all over it, and ‘May Seem Macabre’ sees the album at its most produced.
This time of year sees a swarm of albums unleashed on the buying public with many not deserving of the plaudits which are often easily wrestled from critics’ hands. It would be a travesty should Peter Bjorn & John’s ‘Gimme More’ not get the recognition it deserves. Not a game changer by any means, but an example of stellar song-writing nonetheless. JP
