Peter Bjorn And John
Writer's Block

THE REVIEW

If there were justice in this world, the Italian summer hit wouldn't be a "song" (quotation marks are mandatory) that's stale, banal, born in the wake of Italy's victory in the World Cup, with a deliberately misspelled title and refrain to evoke sympathy... you know who I'm talking about.

As I was saying, if there were justice in this world, the title of summer hit would go to "Young Folks", the first single from the album "Writer's Block" by the Swedish trio "Peter Bjorn and John" (no commas). It's been a while since I heard such a catchy and compelling song, drenched in indie-pop spirit to the core without being bothersome, with a killer chorus that sticks in your head right after the first listen. The formula of the single is also maintained in all the remaining tracks and, without indulging in easy wordplay with the album title, I'll go straight to the point and say that new stars have been born.

Sure, "Peter Bjorn and John" have been on the music scene for a while now, and they can boast three LPs (including this one) and various EPs, but it is certainly with this latest album that they have caught the attention of the European public; needless to say, the road to success is still long, as demonstrated by the difficulty in obtaining their albums (at least in Italy), yet the charming cartoon video for "Young Folks" is already making its way on MTV and I think (hope) it's just a matter of time.
As I previously mentioned, the remaining nine songs on "Writer's Block" (excluding the noisy introductory title-track) are at excellent levels: all seem to have come out of a 1960s pop record, and the debt to the Beatles is quite evident, without overshadowing the intrinsic quality of the tracks. The arrangements are excellent, very "indie", characterized by distorted sounds and vocals teetering on the edge of being off-key, creating the illusion (because that's what it is) that each track was recorded on the fly, in a single take, to be listened to solely among friends and not meant for public sale.

Specifically, notable mentions are "Let's Call It Off", rhythmically enhanced with nice guitar solos, "The Chills", the darkest song on the album with a suggestive overlapping vocal finale, "Roll The Credits", akin to a more sunny Coldplay's "Politik", and the concluding track "Poor Cow", sustained only by an acoustic guitar and little else. There are minor tracks, if not entirely fillers: "Start To Melt" is completely dispensable, while "Up Against The Wall", with its over seven minutes, aspires to be epic but ends up being just boring and repetitive (a little trimming would make it a good piece).

In conclusion, an excellent album for this semi-unknown band aiming high and possessing the ability to achieve great success. A success that, undoubtedly, they deserve.