Peter Bjorn And John
Biography
Peter Bjorn and John formed in 1999 in Stockholm, Sweden, comprising members Peter Morén on vocals, guitar, and harmonica; Björn Yttling on vocals, bass, and keyboards; and John Eriksson on drums, percussion, and vocals. Although influenced by the sounds of classic '60s baroque pop, power pop, and new wave, the band shunned the "revivalist" tag and, instead, created some of the most exciting and original indie rock of the mid-2000s. The band began playing gigs soon after forming and eventually found themselves on music compilations alongside artists like Sahara Hotnights, Badly Drawn Boy, and Holiday for Strings. After releasing the Forbidden Chords EP and a pair of singles ("Failing and Passing" and "I Don't Know What I Want Us to Do"), the band released its self-titled first album in 2002 on the tiny Beat That! label.
After more shows, more EPs (People They Know, 100m of Hurdles), and another release of a single ("See Through"), the group jumped to the Planekonomi label in 2004 and released the Beats, Traps and Backgrounds EP. It was soon followed by the 2004 album Falling Out, which was picked up for American release by Hidden Adenda in late 2005. The record placed them -- along with the Concretes, the Shout Out Louds (both of whom Yttling has produced records for), and the Legends -- at the forefront of the sparkling wave of promising pop bands coming from Sweden. The band's third album, Writer's Block, followed a year later and became a minor international hit, buoyed by the catchy single "Young Folks." The song's video also boosted the band's profile, gently propelling Peter Bjorn and John into a very 2000s kind of fame that culminated in them playing the tune with Kanye West at the 2007 Way Out West Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden. After completing their various tours in support of Writer's Block, the band focused on other projects (including Yttling's production work and Morén's 2008 solo album, The Last Tycoon) before coming together to record and release a largely instrumental album, Seaside Rock, in the autumn of 2008. Living Things, the band's fourth full-length album, was released several months later in early 2009. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
Selected Discography
i saw them when they opened up for depeche mode in Phoenix awesome stuff to bad the crowd didnt really know them they didnt seem that excited =(.... Awesome stuff though
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@Anthony: Wow - you edit your comment and still manage to misspell penises? You've rendered your own opinion meaningless by being such an immature loser.
Peter Bjorn and John rock! |
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Saw them when they opened for Depeche Mode in Boston this summer. Pretty good set.
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Just saw these guys Tuesday. They are very entertaining . It was a fun show.
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Well there is soo much more to hear. Just listen to the entire album Writer's Block.
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young folks is an amazing song from its melodic whistling to its awesome percusion, but its the only good song i've heard from em.
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MAN IF KROQ NEVER PLAYED THIS GUYS WOULD NEVER KNOW WHO THERE ARE KROQ ROCKS LAST NIGHT I LIT MY FIRST F A R T ON FIRE AMAZINGLY COOL
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how so??? it totally describles what im going through in my life right now..almost so much that its creepy. i guess you must have to be down to really feel him on most of the lyrics.
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Had a good sound. Now it sounds like they are trying to ride the Lykke Li wave.
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Yeah for Writer's Block! Living Thing was disappointin g , Keane got weird too, think their trying to go 80's dance music or something, with primitive beats, trying to be ironic, not sure.
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Falling Out is good, Writer's Block is awesome and Living Thing is awful. They ran out of steam I guess.
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really great group. really refreshing to hear something so original, yet unpretentiou s .
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Writer's Block has some wicked tunes a few even better then (gasp) Young Folks... so check emm out.
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The greatest songs of all time have whistle solos in them. And you know this.. ;p
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i like to whistle, i like to dance. i also like to eat chili and a hot summer day
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lol i just realized the band name could be abbreviated as PB and J
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it's not lykke li on young folks, it's Victoria Bergsman of The Concretes
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