Well, well, well. While your reviewer was vaguely aware that our favourite quirky Scando-pop threesome had existed prior to the hit single with the whistling on it, he was previously painfully ignorant that this pair of little beauties existed. Just goes to show that you gotta pay attention in this game, doesn’t it?
Actually, for this writer the great news is that both PETER, BJORN & JOHN’S eponymous debut and its’ equally enigmatic follow-up ‘Falling Out’ are considerably more consistent than the attention-grabbing, but actually quite uneven ‘Writer’s Block’ LP, so to say these re-issues are timely turns out to be refreshingly true.
The band’s self-titled debut (otherwise known as ‘The Red One’ for obvious reasons) sneaked out on the Beat That! Label late in 2002 and was recorded – in true bedroom genius/idiot savant fashion – in Bjorn’s apartment/ home studio. Hearteningly, a meagre couple of listens demonstrate that the patented, idiosyncratic P,B & J sound was already being blueprinted in downtown Stockholm even at this embryonic stage.
There’s plenty to get your teeth into. Songs like ‘Matchmaker’ and ‘I Don’t Know What I Want Us To Do’ are tasty slices of frantic, lovelorn pop that make like a mini-Korg-addled Buzzcocks mugging the local vicar, while the charmingly trebly and naïve charm of tunes such as ‘100 Meters Of Hurdle’ and ‘Education Circle’ – with its’ medium discord and self-styled ‘crappy harpsichord synthesizer’ - are both hugely infectious and gently raise the spirit of the energetic early Attractions.
Elsewhere, though, the band’s sonic aspirations exceed the record’s paltry budget and the understated, Beatloid delights of the piano-based ‘From Now On’ and the deliciously brittle string’n’horn-led ‘Failing And Passing’ have a dignity and gentle orchestral swell that many bands struggle to achieve with 48 tracks and the backing of a medium-size conglomerate to fall back upon. This is largely a good thing, though when they conclude with the touching care and rescue story of ‘Please, Go Home’ they prove they are equally adept when they strip away all the layers.
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Housed in its’ Velvets-influenced black and white sleeve, sophomore release ‘Falling Out’ (originally released on the Planekonani label in 2004) found Peter, Bjorn and John ensconced in a ‘real’ studio (Studio Grondal, birthplace of most of The Hives’ material) for the first time. This is apparent when the opening clutch of tunes (including the bracing, anthemic ‘Far Away, By My Side’ and the restless, nagging riffs of ‘Money’) sound larger and more confident, though the wintry dislocation of ‘Start Making Sense’ and the resolutely lo-fi ‘Goodbye, Again Or’ (recorded directly onto Peter’s mobile!) soon make you realise that the trio’s intrinsic quirks are unlikely to be ironed out too quickly. Elsewhere, the distorted, Lou Reed guitar solo and pattering, Mo Tucker-style drums of the jarring ‘Does It Matter Now?’ and brass and organ fanfare of the looming ‘Big Black Coffin’ are the kind of splendid sonic blasts that can’t fail to blow the discerning indie cobwebs away regardless of prevailing fashions.
Generously, additional demos/EP tracks flesh out both albums and with these ranging from the faux-Eastern drone of ‘Le Crique’, through to Bjorn’s clipped, Young Marble Giants-style outing ‘Don’t Be Skew’ and the full-on effervescent power-pop of ‘(I Just Wanna) See Through’, it’s plain to hear that both the lure of the experimental and an on-going dalliance with great pop continue to fight it out for supremacy in Peter, Bjorn & John’s fascinating world. When it’s alchemised properly – as on bits of ‘Writer’s Block’ and healthy portions of both these albums – it remains wondrous for the ear to behold.
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