Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block

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While traveling to Sweden this past fall, whenever I told someone I was a music writer going there to cover a band, I was greeted with the same token response again and again: "Who are you going to meet, ABBA?" I responded to each reply with a polite laugh, but in my head, I kept thinking, dude, if you only knew. The fact is, Sweden is going through a musical renaissance that puts many countries, America and the UK included, to shame, having unleashed a flood of highly talented artists, from mainstream, to indie, to metal, to everything in between. If it's not Jens Lekman, it's El Perro Del Mar. If it's not Robyn, it's Sally Shapiro. If it's not the Ark, it's the Knife. If it's not Opeth, it's Katatonia. And with the emergence of the extremely likeable trio Peter Bjorn and John, who have put out the finest Swedish pop album since Jens Lekman's 2004 debut, not only does the wave of stellar music from Scandinavia show no sign of stopping, but this stuff finally has a legitimate shot at making a serious commercial dent in North America. And they have that adorable song with the whistling to thank for it.

One of the most insidiously catchy indie singles in the last couple years, "Young Folks" is so simple in structure, so bare-bones it's skeletal in fact, but every single facet of the song is note perfect. Bjorn Yttling's percussion is ebullient, from his trap kit shuffle, to his maraca shakes, to his energetic bongo accompaniment. John Erikkson's bassline is astounding, full-sounding and mellifluous, capable of carrying the entire song, which it does. The boy-girl duet of Peter Morén and Victoria Bergsman (singer for the Concretes) is absolutely beguiling (Peter: "If you knew my story word for word / Had all of my history / Would you go along with someone like me?" Victoria: "It doesn't matter what you did…We could stick around and see this night through"). But for the wonderfully lilting chorus, it's all about the hook that whistle provides. Initially an off-handed accompaniment by Yttling which was meant to be replaced by an instrument, the band made the very smart decision to leave it as it is, as the whistle gives the song such a resonant, human quality. Rarely does such a minimal arrangement yield something so rich.

The rest of the album holds up very well, although nothing really measures up to the high standard set by "Young Folks". Musically, the songs are strikingly diverse in style, but what unifies Writer's Block is how it centers on various stages of relationships, from infatuation, to comfortable familiarity, to sudden disintegration. "Let's Call it Off" makes use of the tried-and-true gimmick of masking devastating lyrical content (in this case, a splitting couple) with summery melodies, more specifically some sumptuous guitar fills, handclaps, and steel drums. "Objects of My Affection" is stunning indie rock, melody colliding with cacophonous guitars, as Moren sings astutely, "This new friend of mine said something to me / 'Just because something starts differently, doesn't mean it's worth less.'" The gently acoustic "Paris 2004" avoids sinking into twee self-parody thanks to such gorgeous lines as, "While I'm sleeping / You paint a ring on my finger with your black marker-pen." Meanwhile, "Up Against the Wall" hearkens back to mid-80s New Order, both "Start to Melt" and "Roll the Credits" combine shoegaze distortion with Spectorian grandeur, and "The Chills" boasts amazing percussion work, from the terrific drum fills at the end of every bar, to the shooking rhythms that serve as the songs oddly effective hook.

For those wise enough to ditch the MP3s that leaked nearly a year ago and buy the US release, you're in for a cool added bonus, as we're treated to a very worthwhile second disc containing six tracks, ranging from remixes to alternate takes, including the original mix of "Let's Call it Off", sans steel drums. Not that we didn't have enough incentive to Writer's Block in the first place; this is a minor masterpiece that, while confined to bloggers and indie scenesters in recent months, deserves a much wider audience in 2007, and will probably get it.