We had been looking forward to seeing Swedish indie darlings Peter Bjorn and John for some time, but as sometimes happen with indie darlings, Monday’s sold out 9:30 Club show underwhelmed. The trio, who have been all over Pitchfork and the blogs, play understated, finely crafted 60s-ish pop. They’ve been together since 1999, but their third album, 2006’s “Writer’s Block,” catapulted them to indie stardom, mainly due to the single “Young Folks.” The rest of their excellent album is similarly British Invasion-esque, with shuffling drums and fairly prominent whistling. They even continue the 60s vibe to their MySpace page, which has a sitar cover of “Young Folks.”
The album, produced by Bjorn (last name Ytlling) sounds great, with dense, rich sound, echoes and tons of atmosphere, but unfortunately that complexity didn’t translate well on stage. A lot of the subtle backing music didn’t come across, the main instruments were generally fuzzy, and the whistling, which is surprisingly a pretty important part of “Young Folks” and other songs, was part of the problem. As the show went on, it seemed like the whistling was prerecorded, although the band members still mimed the motions. We understand that many bands play with recorded or sampled bits at shows, but pretending to do it is kind of lame. The vocals, which the band splits, also seemed a little flat. NPR has the show online, so you can listen for yourself. “Objects of My Affection,” their James-ish rocker at about the 52nd minute is probably the highlight.
Part of our disappointment could be attributed to the fact that this was the first show on their U.S. club tour, and they may not have the kinks worked out yet. Or they could have been worn down after Coachella two days before. We did like their sense of humor, as the backdrop for the show said “Peter Bjorn and John Backdrop,” their t-shirts “Peter Bjorn and John Shirt,” and they joked about Vangelis, but jokes do not a good show make. The sold out crowd seemed fairly into it and we’re willing to give them a pass for this one, but we hope the Swedes can find a way for their full sound to arrive next time around.
Photo from their website
