Internal Debate: Peter Bjorn & John, Living Thing

For the unfamiliar, Internal Debate is one of our new favorite features – allowing multiple takes of the same album in an effort to provide a communal, critical take instead of the usual one-guy/girl-take. Our hope is for a more comprehensive critique as well as fodder for discussion and, thus far, it’s been an enjoyable ride.

The musical piñata hanging in mid-air this time around is Peter, Bjorn & John’s latest, Living Thing. The Swedish trio have released their fifth album to middling acclaim and the result is the same here among our own community of Staff Writers. Of course, if the band can follow their own advice on this release, they still have “nothing to worry about.”

Peter, Bjorn and John’s latest Living Thing is a fun, if often sloppy and disjointed, indie-euro pop album. For fans who learned of Peter, Bjorn & John (PB&J?) through their global hit single “Young Folks” Living Thing will please sporadically with it’s vaguely German sparseness. “The Feeling,” “It Don’t Move Me,” and “Lay It Down” sputter the most, but even these have PB&J’s trademark synths and clever, lovelorn lyrics to brighten the scene. “Just the Past” is the smooth popster that “Young Folks” lovers will like most, while “Blue Period Picasso” is the best lyrically, waxing romantic in the voice of a painting hanging in a gallery. Sparse as it may be, there is nothing un-PB&J about this album. [Justin Curtis]

Peter Bjorn & John’s new Living Thing release comes off way too snarky. For instance, when they write-off nearly everything they’ve ever experienced in life during “Just The Past”, it’s just like when a teenager storms away from the dinner table, exclaiming, ‘Well, excuse me for living!’ Although “Blue Period Picasso”, which finds the central character in a painting begging to be stolen, is wonderful, it cannot save this emotionally distracting work. [Dan MacIntosh]

Inverting their previous organic formula, Peter Bjorn and John have altered their musical schema on Living Thing to rely solely on synth beats, minimalist guitars, and effects-laden vocals. The outcome is fascinatingly catchy at its best (“Nothing to Worry About”) and painstakingly dull at worst (“4 Out of 5”). Meanwhile the band’s talent for melody is muted by the flat, directionless electronic leanings that scatter the album. While intriguing to hear as an experiment in sonic expansion, the album ultimately builds a brick wall that keep the listener outside with cold tunes rather than inviting them in with warm, nourishing songs. [Scott Elingburg]

I’ve always appreciated Peter Bjorn and John’s less-is-more approach to pop music where each song is hinged upon a strong vocal melody with sparse instrumentation being somewhat of an afterthought. Their formula has remained consistent with Living Thing, but has deviated slightly from their breakthrough effort, Writers Block, in that quirky melodies are often favored over those of a more catchy variety. Their single “Nothing To Worry About” exemplifies that as well as any song on Living Thing. So, while it might not grab you with the same immediacy as Writers Block, it will certainly pull you back for repeated listens. [Steve Schusler]

Related posts:

1. Internal Debate: Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johannson
2. Internal Debate: Matisyahu, Light
3. Internal Debate: The Dead Weather
4. Internal Debate: Metric, Fantasies
5. Internal Debate: Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest

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