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Rating: 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.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Objects of My Affection (04:35)
I remember when, when I first moved here
A long time ago
'Cause I heard some song I used to hear back then
A long time ago
I remember when, even further back
In another town
'Cause I saw something written I used to say back then
Hard to comprehend
And the question is, was I more alive then than I am now?
I happily have to disagree
I laugh more often now, I cry more often now
I am more me
But of course some days I just lie around
And hardly exist
And can't tell apart what I'm eating
From my hand or my wrist
'Cause flesh is flesh, flesh as flesh as flesh
The difference is thin
But life has a certain ability of breathing new life into me
So I breathe it in
It says here we are, and we all are here
And you still can make sense
If you just show up and present an honest face instead of that grin
And the other day, this new friend of mine said something to me
"Just because something starts differently, doesn't mean it's worth less"
And I soaked it in, how I soaked it in
How I soaked it in
And just as to prove how right he was
Then you came
So I'm gonna give, yes I'm gonna give
I'm gonna give you a try
So I'm gonna give, yes I'm gonna give
I'm gonna give you a try
03 Young Folks (04:36)
If I told you things I did before
Told you how I used to be
Would you go along with someone like me?
If you knew my story word for word
Had all of my history
Would you go along with someone like me?
I did before and had my share
It didn't lead nowhere
I would go along with someone like you
It doesn't matter what you did
Who you were hanging with
We could stick around and see this night through
And we don't care about the young folks
Talking 'bout the young style
And we don't care about the old folks
Talking 'bout the old style too
And we don't care about our own folks
Talking 'bout our own style
All we care about is talking
Talking only me and you
Usually when things has gone this far
People tend to disappear
No one will surprise me unless you do
I can tell there's something going on
Hours seems to disappear
Everyone is leaving I'm still with you
It doesn't matter what we do
Where we are going to
We can stick around and see this night through
Talking only me and you
Talking only me and you
Talking only me and you
04 Amsterdam (03:36)
Baby went to Amsterdam
She put a little money into travelling
Now it's so slow, so slow
Baby went to Amsterdam,
4-5 days by the big canal
Now it's so slow, so slow
And I was heading up north, to a place that I know
Eating well, sleeping well
But still I was way, way out of line
Amsterdam was stuck in my mind
Oh, it's some kind of stupid rule
That you can't ignore
Oh, it's some kind of natural fact
Sometimes you're just left to be alone
And I tried to go away, to a place of my own,
Working hard, fill my time
But from early on 'til I hit the bed
Amsterdam was stuck in my head
09 The Chills (03:48)
Your tongue is sharp
but I miss the taste of it
You said time heals
there's not enough of it
The lessons are too cruel to keep
to lock the door to hide the key
To hear you cast a spell so sweet
to still have hours left to sleep
Your fear is crowdin'
And there is still
no place
for someone
like me to fill
Don't know about luck
but I know the lack of it
Don't know about luck
but I'm losing track of it
The lessons are too cruel to keep
to lock the door to go to sleep
I know that time until it kills
You're giving me the chills
Your fear is crowdin'
and there is still
No place
for someone
like me to fill
x2
The lessons are too cruel to keep
to lock the door to hide the key
to hear you cast a spell so sweet
and still have hours left to sleep
Your fear is crowdin'
And there is still
no place
for someone
like me to fill
x2
The lessons are too cruel to keep
to lock the door to go to sleep
I know that time until it kills
You're giving me the chills
I know that time until it kills
you're giving me the chills
you're giving me the chills
you're giving me the chills
11 Poor Cow (04:45)
When all is gone, and things go wrong,
We don't need them anymore.
The artifacts and all they lack,
We don't need them anymore.
I don't have the means, and so it seems
For now I can't participate.
But I've waited long,
Now the dollar's strong again,
I still can't participate.
When we don't consume it seems we are immune
To all of the thoughts they sell,
You know as well as I, that's a lie...
'Cause I want to spend, I want to spend,
In a never-ending story, but it always ends.
I want to spend, I want to spend,
In a never-ending story, but it always ends.
And when I die, the angels will try
To count all my belongings.
To measure my worth, pure gold, solid dirt,
To see if I'm worth keeping.
But the house I rent and the car I drive,
I'm sorry but they ain't mine.
You know as well as I, that's no lie...
'Cause I want to spend, I want to spend,
In a never-ending story, but it always ends.
I want to spend, I want to spend,
In a never-ending story, but it always ends.
And it always ends, and it always ends...
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