Customer Reviews

Writer's Block (LTD Edition with Bonus Disc)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Swedish pop group Peter Bjorn and John are apparently trying to confuse us, and for a brief time, it works.

Their third album "Writer's Block" has the misfortune to open on a rather saggy note, but fortunately hoists itself up for a blurry blend of indiepop and northern atmospheric synth. So straggle through the first two tracks, because the indiepop that follows is solid, multilayered and quite excellent.

It opens with a faint, atmospheric little track that sounds like Sigur Ros tuning up. Then suddenly it careens into nonstop guitar pop in "Object of My Affection," with drums pounding right over those steely riffs. "And you still can make sense/if you just show up and present an honest face/instead of that grin," Peter Morén sings happily.

Not only is it a lot simpler than the other songs, but I got a headache from those relentless drums and guitar. At that point I was groaning, anticipating a whole album of the same. But I was wrong.

Things start perking up with the shimmying, sunny indiepop of "Young Folks," which has some enchantingly feathery edges and constant whistling. The other songs have a similar mix of shimmery keyboard and solid indiepop -- thumpy little marches, swirling psychedelic hymns, gentle ballads blooming into driving guitarpop, folksy ballads, and the shimmering prettiness of "The Chills."

For your info, there is no Peter Bjorn -- it's actually "Peter, Bjorn and John," three Swedish guys who play the instruments and all provide vocals. And despite a couple of mediocre songs on "Writer's Block," these guys really know how to make great indiepop -- lots of northern wind and snow, and a delightfully sunny 1970s pop mentality.

There's plenty of ringing, peppy guitar and unstoppable bass from Morén and Björn Yttling, while John Eriksson provides some fast drumming as well. Yttling swaddles almost all the melodies in a hazy edge of soft, colourful synth, and turning some of them into bittersweet, chilly pop. Most of the songs are pretty upbeat, even with a bit of harmonica and whistling to remind us to be cheery.

Much of the album is about sort of ambiguous -- half of it seems to be about breaking up with a lover, and the other half is about how much you adore them. "Your tongue is sharp/but I miss the taste of it/You said time heals/there's not enough of it..." Moren sings in his slightly nasal voice. It's just a few songs after, "Hours seems to disappear/everyone is leaving -- I'm still with you."

"Writer's Block" has a couple tracks that don't quite fit in, but the overall album is a delicious blend of cheery pop melodies and blurry keyboard. Definitely a good listen.

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)

01. Writer's Block I still do not understand the need for an Intro track. At least this one is short and quiet, unlike many.

02. Objects of My Affection The music on this track has a very righteous, hold-your-head-high feel to it. It is nice when someone comes into our life and makes a positive impact. If you're looking for a song to reflect that, look no further.

03. Young Folks Young Folks is probably the best-known single from the trio. Featuring Victoria Bergsman (until recently of The Concretes), this song is regarded as one of the best of 2006 (Pitchfork #5). The lyrics on most of the album are incredibly charming and profound. This song is an excellent example of that.

04. Amsterdam "Baby went to Amsterdam..." I can't help it; I love this song. It is admittedly not as good as Young Folks, but it is my guilty pleasure track on this cd. For some reason I enjoy the non-challance of the song as it is sung very matter-of-factly.

05. Start to Melt I am not a huge fan of the noisy, screechy feel of this one. It is hard to understand, and not my favorite track, but at least it is short at just over 2 minutes.

06. Up Against the Wall I love the duality of this song. The pleading lyrics against the upbeat percussion gives you two ways to listen to this song. You can opt for the drums and bob your head or for the lyrics, but be careful you might find yourself singing along unexpectedly.

07. Paris 2004 This is a simple little song which chronicles the end of a trip and its immediate aftermath for two lovers. Not a lot happens, but they certainly emphasize the feelings they have for each other. If it were a little less repetitive I would really enjoy this song.

08. Let's Call It Off With such a wide variety of musical influences on the album, this is the song that I feel is most closely linked to Young Folks from an instrumental perspective. Lyrically they take us down a different path as they turn the page to a relationship that just didn't work out. This is a good song which works well on this album, but with this subject matter it might be hard to find a place for it on a mixtape.

09. The Chills There is a bizarrely psychadelic cloud hanging over this song that makes it almost ridiculous to listen to. I like how they added the echo element to the vocals, though. Somehow I still kind of like this song.

10. Roll the Credits This song weighs in at nearly 7 minutes long and has an instrumental intro that goes for almost one minute. With such drawn out feel, I would expect this song to actually end the disc. All of the fun and enthusiasm that went into the rest of the album was left out of this song. Place it at the end of the album so I can turn it off missing other tracks in the exchange.

11. Poor Cow This isn't the best song on the album, but it definitely doesn't deserve to be buried behind the track before it. I can't imagine that I would ever go to this sond directly, but if it came on shuffle, I probable would not turn it off, unless I was doing anything that required any energy.

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!

Peter Bjorn & John hail from Sweden, and I will admit I had never heard of them, but internet-only radio station WOXY has their current single in rotation, and I really like that track and it made me check out the album. Best decision I've made in a while. If you're not familiar with PB&J's music, it's reminiscent of the 60s "simple" style of music. This is the band's second album.

"Writer's Block" (11 tracks, 46 min.) starts of with the title track, which is really a 30 sec. instrumental intro to the real opener of the album, "Objects of My Affection", which set the table for the album. It is followed by "Young Folks", the single that I heard on rotation on WOXY, and it's an irresistable whistle-along song, just great. Other highlights including the funny "Amsterdam" ("Baby went to Amsterdam/She put a little money into traveling"); the epic 7 min. "Up Against the Wail", with a fantastic and hypnotizing long instrumental outro, the best track on the album for me; the sweet and gentle "Paris 2004"; and "Let's Call It Off" (another obvious single), all of them just irresistable. The album goes one song too long with the unnecessary closer "Poor Cow", after the preceding song "Roll the Credits" had indeed just done that, and reason I can't rate the album 5 stars. The CD I got came with a bonus CD (6 tracks, 24 min.), which brings a mix of previously released songs and demos or remixes of the new songs. The highlights are "Ancient Curse" and "Self-Pity". I wasn't too keen on the sitar (!) instrumental and the remix versions of "Young Folks".

In all, I haven't stopped listening to this album since I got it a few weeks ago. It is without a doubt sure to end up on my list of best albums of the year (please note that this relates to the US release, the album was released last year in Europe). I will see Peter Bjorn & John in concert at Coachella at the end of April, and I can't wait to see how the songs of this album will translate in a live setting. "Writer's Block" is HIGHLY recommended.

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.

thanks to pitchfork i was aware of this album when it came in late 2006. luckily, i was able to find a inexpensive used import through amazon for like $16.00...which is pretty good since it still is an import. the song "young folks" will want to you to own this album, as the coolness of the video and the song itself seem all at once timeless, yet so very modern and hip. out of all the swedish bands that are coming out now these days, Id say PBJ are my favorite. as for the album itself, it gets better with repeated listens. the weakest songs on here are "Amsterdam", and "Start to Melt", but once you get past those two, the album is actually really great. "Up Against the Wall", and "Let's Call It Off" are great pop, as the song "The Chills" has some really cool lyrics. In terms of how P-fork would review, id really give it a 7.5 out 10.0. my advice: just wait till it comes out in the US and not pay the 23 something dollars here.

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.

Have been hearing the song "Young Folks" on the radio and like it. Decided to buy the whole CD and I sure am glad I did! This is great stuff. A little bit folk, a little bit rock-and-roll, a little bit electronic. "Amsterdam" is a super-interesting, very different song and is my favorite on the album. "Let's Call it Off" is good too. All in all some catchy tunes and a super album.

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).