Two years ago, Peter Bjorn and John replaced Andrew Bird as
hipsters’ favorite whistlers when “Young Folks” puckered up and blew
its way onto an AT&T commercial, into movie trailers and all over
iTunes. The fifth album by the Swedish trio doesn’t include any
whistling, but it’s stuffed with the sort of breezy indie-pop that made
2006’s Writer’s Block a hit. It’s also filled with the gurgling
synths, ersatz handclaps and detached vocals that made so much of
Block anonymous. Living Thing works best when PB&J
keep things melodically and lyrically simple. “Just the Past” glides
fluently over spare drops of noise, while “Lay It Down” balances its
lo-fi beats with a singalong “Shut the fuck up, boy/You are starting to
piss me off” chorus. Who knew these cheery whistlers could get so
angry? — Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Apr 1-7, 2009.
