The Swede poppers made headlines for the wrong reasons at SXSW, but the new album remains a charming departure from Writer’s Block. Try the Graceland-nodding title track, dig on the rest at MySpace.
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the album is horrible
I second that.
yeah. man. i LOVED writer’s block, but what the hell is this? hip hop collaborations go to their heads? there isn’t a song on this thing that could match ANY good song on writer’s block.
I disagree. Rather than take the predictable road and making ‘Writer’s Block II’ (which is what I was expecting, and wasn’t that excited about it) PB&J took a chance and completely changed their sound, not to hide weaker songs as some bands do, but to have a less monotonous discography. I really like the new album, and as far as melody and quality its just as good as Writers Block, maybe better considering Writers Block gets pretty boring towards the end.
More like Peter Bjorn and Yawn.
No but seriously, it’s an ok album but certainly not deserving of any high praise (Then again, this style of music isn’t my cup of tea.) I like “Living Thing” the best, although I feel it’s very Hot Chip-y. The first couple of tracks I can see winning over the Depeche Mode crowd when they open for them later this summer.
Just because an artist/group changes up style/format/tempo doesn’t mean it should hold the album to a lower-standard based on the positives aspects of unpredictability. I think these guys made a conscious decision to be aesthetically unappealing, and I’m sure they’ll soon reap the rewards of high-concept praise and extremely low sales.
Yes, exactly. I’m tired of people defending mediocre music by saying that the band took a chance and tried something different. I have no problem with bands trying something different, but if it sucks, they shouldn’t get a pass. Otherwise it’s not really taking a chance.
who gives a shit about high-concept praise. the thing is, writers block was full of great melodies. living thing has at best mediocre melodies and at worst is a lame pandering to the trendy aesthetics of hipsterdom.
Apparently they really don’t care about the young folks.
@Brad I completely disagree that they “took a chance and completely changed their sound.” I think they’re absorbing more, different trends, different eras, different influences, but it’s all still packaged as PB&J, in my view. I hear some Paul Simon, some Lykke Li (since Bjorn is her producer), and unfortunately, some Justice.
http://is.gd/oSL7