ARTIST PROFILE: Peter Bjorn and John

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Photos courtesy of The Windish Agency.

Whistle the oriental riff intro to “Young Folks” in a public place, and it certainly will not go unrecognized. Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John are a household name in the indie community, with their first taste of mainstream success coming from unforeseen traction in pop culture. I myself discovered the song during the first episode of Gossip Girl almost exactly nine years ago to date, but you might have been familiar from the old AT&T commercial, or from Kanye’s sampling on his Can’t Tell Me Nothing mixtape.  But regardless of where and how you first heard it, the fact is, you know it, and it was an instant earworm.

Through the years, with three more well-received records, nothing ever hit quite as hard as Writer’s Block, thanks to that hipster whistle song, but that isn’t to say that “Young Folks” was the band’s only achievement, nor does it define Peter Bjorn and John’s sound and artistic vision.  They’ve taken creative liberties in experimenting with darker tones on 2009’s Living Thing, and found themselves featured commercially again with “Second Chance”.  The sustenance of their career shows that giving people a unique form of pop, one with emotional depth and true character in every track, is what they do best.

And now, five years after Gimme Some, the fans have something to talk about. Released on June 10th, the new record Breakin’ Point covers new ground and serves as a refreshing new taste for a band that seemingly disappeared. For the first time out of their seven records, the band worked with outside producers to churn out a true pop album. It took five years – they took their time with their goals – even with outside collaboration, the resulting animated sound is still unapologetically theirs.

Tracks throughout the album are adorned with the ever-familiar whistling, hearty piano, and upbeat synthesizers that aren’t entirely foreign to the band we knew from five-plus years ago, but now with a late-’70s pop flavor a la ABBA.  (“We called ourselves ‘Dancing Kings’ for a couple of weeks,” said drummer John Eriksson.)  Some tracks like the lead single “What You Talking About?” and “Domino” are heavier and more demanding, and “Do-Si-Do” quite easily instigates a crowd to move along.  “In This Town” breathes out an ambience to slow the energy of the record without telling anybody to stop dancing.

Read our review of their recent performance at Webster Hall, and listen to “Dominos” below. You won’t be able to stop yourself from whistling along – and trust me, you won’t want to.

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LIVE REVIEW: Peter Bjorn and John @ Webster Hall

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Photos by Aaron Tian for AudioFemme.

Three revered names in indie pop made their presences known before a simple light display akin to a cross between an electrocardiogram and a music staff. You have the sharply dressed bassist Björn Yttling donning a blazer, while drummer John Eriksson took his seat behind the kit, standing out in a simple white baseball cap. Finally, lead singer and guitarist Peter Morén positions himself at the other end of the stage in what resembles a utility suit. All three are unified in their look with an array of the band’s patches on their navy blue outfits, as well as name tags  – you know, in case you forgot who you were there to see.

Morén quipped that back in 2000, they signed a contract stating that if anyone left the band, they had to replace him with somebody of the same name. Fast forward sixteen years and seven records later, and Peter Bjorn and John are back with an even more danceable new sound that challenges the classic definition of pop music and conveys no less energy in the live show.

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Peter jumped over the barrier of the pit early on to walk around the crowd during “It Don’t Move Me,” for a rock ‘n’ roll display – “I’m not a big fan of rock,” he says.  “Rock ‘n’ roll, on the other hand, it’s kinda sexy.” – which set the tone for the etiquette of the evening: dance with complete disregard for the space around you, and don’t stop moving.

While this tour spotlights the most infectious pop tracks off the new record, Breakin’ Point, a taste of each of their previous records worked seamlessly into the mix:  a performance of “Eyes” that highlighted Bjorn’s talent on bass, Peter guiding the crowd through a singalong of “Dig A Little Deeper,” and John’s command over the slowed down breakbeat of “Amsterdam,” which brought back memories for both me and the girl behind me, who said that “every song from 2007 just flashed in [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][her] mind.”

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Along with bringing outside producers into the mix for Breakin’ Point, two new touring members have accompanied the band this time around, allowing them to achieve a live sound closer to what you hear on their records.  Peter took the time out to introduce the two “dear friends and talented musicians,” Freja on backing vocals and percussion, and Klaus on the computer and keyboard.  In addition, Julian Harmon of POP ETC took over on the bongos while Freja took center stage as the female counterpart in “Young Folks,” the hipster whistle song that just turned ten this year.

But Peter Bjorn and John continue to prove over and over again that they are beyond capable of getting more than just that song and “Second Chances” stuck in your head for days on end. Closing out the show with “I Know You Don’t Love Me,” which is no slower but a bit more mellow, the trio still makes use of the whole stage and every ounce of vitality left in them during the song’s extended instrumental bridge.

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The upbeat intensity of the live performance showcases the harmony that makes Peter Bjorn and John work so well together.  As Peter said, “You meet someone, you do some things, 10 years later you have a family.”

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