Peter Bjorn and John – Seaside Rock is Weird
I haven’t seen much press about the new Peter, Bjorn and John despite being a “big” band now with their Young Folks hit. I really liked Writer’s Block after a few listens and Bjorn Yttling producing for notable artists like the Shout Out Louds and Lykke Li.
Peter, Bjorn and John then announced earlier this year that they would be doing an instrumental album, I initial thought they were crazy. However when you see Bjorn’s production, you quickly see that it could be done… even if it’s not preferred as they are great at making pop songs.
Seaside Rock hit stores on September 23rd, to limited press. Not surprisingly though as most people tend to shy away from these instrumental records. It’s a little refreshing to see an artist risk a whole lot by making something out of left field. For that no matter the result of this album, I do commend PB & J for trying something new.
The album starts off with Inland Empire, with a intro much like Portishead’s Machine Gun but mixed with Bjorn’s string arrangements that you would find on Lykke Li’s album. The use of an electronic drum set is used throughout taking influences from all the place using various instruments and even adding a guitar solo mixed with trumpets/saxophones as the closer. It’s not the best song but there are things to like.
Say Something (Mukiya) uses steel drums (probably one of my favorite instruments) as well with a catchy bass line throughout the track to become one of my favorite. While I am minimally describing these songs, it’s hard to cover everything that is going on. It’s a pretty thorough album that doesn’t repeat itself for too long.
My favorite track is probably School of Kraut, since it’s upbeat and frantic in nature. It just sticks out to me even though I expect to be annoyed by the sharp sounds every 5 seconds, it really just worked for me.
There are some downsides to this album, Next Stop Bjursele, Erik’s Fishing Ship and Norrlands Riviera where we get spoken word stuff in a foreign language that I’d rather not listen to. It’s not horrendous but it’s not music. At one point where did they decide they wanted to stop doing an instrumental track? Things were pretty good up until that point.
The rest of the album is solid, Peter Bjorn and John know how to play and create music that’s exceptional. I think they just took it too far with the spoken word stuff. P.S. I agree with the P4K review for the most part except the author hating the two tracks I like.
Rating: 3.4 out of 5
Say Something (Mukiya) by Peter Bjorn and John
School of Kraut by Peter Bjorn and John
hey. PB&J is great, i think. Yuo have a realy realy nice blog.
plz comment mine. doesnt matter the lenguage.
eddie’s gun.