CD Review: Peter Bjorn and John "Living Thing"
Garry Juhans
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Arts & Life
My ears were virginal, and the touch of this strange music caused a sonic hymen-busting that was painful and unbearable.
But soon after the shock of the first touch, my ears kindly accepted Peter, Bjorn and John. "Living Thing" isn't really that bad after all.
The songs on this record have a very plaintive, simplistic and goofy sensibility. PBJ are both ironic and heartbreakingly earnest in their delivery of songs like "Nothing to Worry About" and "Lay It Down," which throws out some hot, Swedish aggression.
This is music for strangely mundane rainy days and bathroom toilets. Sunshine, lattes and sandals; it's all there. But I like this record.
It puts certain things in perspective. Like a really bored, drunken existence. So it goes.
"Living Thing" is a Sunday morning record, filled with an almost sickening sense of tired irony. But again, it's a feeling one has to feel repeatedly in order to really understand or appreciate.
I don't know. Maybe listening to a record over and over is really a form of hypnotism, sonic brainwashing. Maybe it's all a big trick, and I'm programmed to really believe this record is great. Maybe all those hipsters out there are really just zombies, getting hypnotized by these senseless repetitions. So it goes. Nah, ah shit. I've lost the plot. Where was I?
So, having said all of that, I'm glad I stuck with Peter and his friends. This quirky and beautiful record has glued itself to my life, like a clingy and psychotic girlfriend with bad skin.
It's only good once you lower your standards.
So it goes.
But soon after the shock of the first touch, my ears kindly accepted Peter, Bjorn and John. "Living Thing" isn't really that bad after all.
The songs on this record have a very plaintive, simplistic and goofy sensibility. PBJ are both ironic and heartbreakingly earnest in their delivery of songs like "Nothing to Worry About" and "Lay It Down," which throws out some hot, Swedish aggression.
This is music for strangely mundane rainy days and bathroom toilets. Sunshine, lattes and sandals; it's all there. But I like this record.
It puts certain things in perspective. Like a really bored, drunken existence. So it goes.
"Living Thing" is a Sunday morning record, filled with an almost sickening sense of tired irony. But again, it's a feeling one has to feel repeatedly in order to really understand or appreciate.
I don't know. Maybe listening to a record over and over is really a form of hypnotism, sonic brainwashing. Maybe it's all a big trick, and I'm programmed to really believe this record is great. Maybe all those hipsters out there are really just zombies, getting hypnotized by these senseless repetitions. So it goes. Nah, ah shit. I've lost the plot. Where was I?
So, having said all of that, I'm glad I stuck with Peter and his friends. This quirky and beautiful record has glued itself to my life, like a clingy and psychotic girlfriend with bad skin.
It's only good once you lower your standards.
So it goes.
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