1/30/25.
Man, it's almost been 20 years since Peter Bjorn and John (Stockholm, Sweden) released "Writer's Block", accurately described by Tim Sendra as a masterpiece. I learned that the band will be doing a small tour of the United States to play "Writer's Block" in its entirety. I plan on going to the show in San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall (tickets went on sale yesterday).
In Sendra's review, he mentioned how Peter Bjorn and John's earlier work rocks harder and is more straightforward than "Writer's Block". I'd never really listened to their early catalogue. So, here we are.
This S/T debut is everything I could have hoped for. Is it better than "Writer's Block"? No - and it's not really close. But, this is very good, and reminds me of Elvis Costello and Split Enz. I'll add a shout out to a contemporary musician who's more quietly mining a similar aesthetic as PB and J - Paddy Hanna. This single just dropped from his new album.
Peter Bjorn and John "S/T" was originally released in 2002 on Beat That! and has been reissued on vinyl by Peter Bjorn and John's own label PB and J Recordings.
