So Sweden is where all of that fantastic hot chocolate comes from, right? No, that's Switzerland. Okay, Sweden is the country that has policemen dressed up in crimson while riding the finest of stallions, right? No, that's Canada. Sadly enough, America's only real connection to the droopy-eared shaped nation of Sweden is that horribly stereotypical chef character from The Muppet Show.""
Then enters Sweden's Peter Bjorn and John: A trio of incredible musicians whose sound is sweeter than the finest chocolate and more valiant than the most decorated Mountie. Writer's Block is the band's ""burning of the Riechstag,"" with its embers whipping the indie music world into frenzy, cackling to their predecessors ABBA and Ace of Base.
The album opens with ""Detects On My Affection,"" a snare-rolling masterpiece that explodes with dazzling bravado. ""Young Folks"" behaves like a throwback to old children's sing-alongs with playful whistling, bongo drums and the guest vocals of Victoria Bergsman that makes the efforts of Sharon, Lois and Braham sound like a bunch of rag tags.
PB and J tuck listeners in with the tranquility of ""Amsterdam,"" and the spacey-Velvet Underground style tune in ""I Start to Melt,"" only to punch them in the face with the spastic and yelping ""Up Against the Wall""""seven minutes of hodge-podge guitar layering over one sugary melody.
As if the massive array of musical sounds in the previous tracks were not too mind boggling, PB and J make strategic use of the thumb piano in ""Paris 2004""""adding new dimension to an instrument for the talent-less. ""Let's Call it Off"" surfaces as the grittiest of the tracks on Writer's Block, issuing a chord progression similar to the Clash and the Kinks, but also has this sleazy, European-style pop song etched into the foundation.
Onomatopoeia in rock music will always be a dangerous concoction, but the ""ch-ch-ch's"" in ""The Chills"" compliment the convulsiveness throughout the song and are not even the slightest bit annoying.
""Roll the Credits"" and ""Poor Cow"" may be antagonisms in the musical spectrum""one more polished and ostentatious, the other slimy and abrupt""but they dignify PB and J as scholars of pop music.
Writer's Block is the kind of album that will make much of the music world envious with contempt. PB and J keep their music simple yet infectious""radiating their brilliance from the first chord to the last. While the imaginary mothers of all self-pitying music groups grab their children by the ear and scold, ""Why can't you be more like them?"" PB and J continue on their quest to make sure everyone in the world remembers that Sweden is on the right side of Norway.
