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Peter Bjorn and John (Sweden)
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February 04, 22:00
B2 Club 
Peter Bjorn and John formed in 1999 in Stockholm, Sweden, comprising members Peter Moren on vocals, guitar, and harmonica; Bjorn 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. "It beats me every time" became a Swedish radio hit and the album was released Stateside the following year to press acclaim. Allmusic.com gave the album 4,5 stars and wrote: "very close to the best indie rock -- no, just plain music - being made in 2005. More punk than the Concretes, less frantic than Shout Out Louds, as catchy as the most tuneful of the UK post-post-post-punk merchants. "Falling Out" firmly established Peter, Bjorn and John as a group to watch out for. They are a band that has arrived in all senses of the word". 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 Moren'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.
"This Stockholm trio's fifth album offers more of what made "Young Folks" (2006) an international hipster anthem: infectious electro–acoustic tunes framing tales of romance and its discontents. The melodies are winsome throughout, but "Living Thing" is a record for beat mavens, with clattery drum–programming propelling songs that nod to Depeche Mode ("It Don't Move Me") and South African township jive ("Living Thing")." (Rolling Stones)
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