Peter, Bjorn and John: ‘Living Thing’
After their tranquil, yet ultimately disappointing last outing, ‘Seaside Rock’, I was hoping that Swedish trio Peter, Bjorn and John would redeem themselves and produce a record in the realms of ‘Writer’s Block’. No such luck. ‘Living Thing’, while romantic in both thought and sound, simply has no substance.
Romanticism, even in its mildest forms, has substance – just read Coleridge or Keats. ‘Living Thing’, however, sounds like a record put together by a school band - full of claps, finger clicks and tambourines. PB & J also teach us how to count to five on ‘4 Out Of 5’ and we learn that the only exciting thing about ‘I Want You!’ is the exclamation mark.
Opener ‘The Feeling’ fails to evoke anything, which isn’t great since the first track tends to set the pace for the proceedings. The only plus is that it achieves a sense of psychedelic – the toy bazooka, perhaps?
‘Just The Past’ is eerie and wouldn’t sound too out of place in a thriller flick. Its bouncy bongo’s and pretty piano is reminiscent of the 80’s and Mr Bowie’s ‘Labyrinth’ character (complete with crystal ball). This theme follows on with ‘I’m Losing My Mind’ which opens with what sounds like someone shouting from the bottom of a cave.
Bad notes aside, stand out track ‘It Don’t Move Me’ seems ironic since it’s the only song that has any chance of provoking some feeling. It has the beats and blips to get your hips brewing, as does first release ‘Nothing to Worry About’ with the multitude of sound from glocks and demented children’s singing.
Title track ‘Living Thing’ is quite delightful with the African jungle mantra sounding lyrics and synths, although at times the two don’t seem to fall in line, and ‘Blue Period Picasso’ has a story behind it – PB & J liken themselves to a Picasso painting hanging on the wall of a Barcelona gallery, wishing for someone to take them out of there. Pretty romantic, eh?
“Hey, shut the fuck up boy/you are starting to piss me off” resounds on ‘Lay It Down,’ showing a cheeky but crude side to PB & J and, on that note, I’m off.
Words: Adam Mallaby
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