Search - Peter Bjorn & John :: Writer's Block (LTD Edition with Bonus Disc)

Good album that offers many different sounds.

Peter Shermeta | Rochester, MI | 03/29/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

4.5 Stars.... One of the best albums I've heard this year

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 03/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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.

"

Love this album!

Renee Choi | 03/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."