BY IAN HRABE
It's funny what a hit can do. Two years ago, I literally could not walk down Mass Street without hearing Peter, Bjorn and John's whistle-wielding surprise hit "Young Folks" blasting out of some boutique or pizza place. Suddenly, the song was everywhere. From clothing commercials, to sports video games, to Grey's Anatomy, to a sample in a Kanye West track. Rather than recreate the success of "Young Folks," with this year's Living Thing, the trio abandoned the anthemic sing-a-long pop of its breakthrough record, Writer's Block. Going into the Granada on Friday night, I was curious to see how the sparsity of the new songs would carry over in a live setting.
While the hyperactive antics of the three Swedes was entertaining to watch, half of the set was made up of songs sapped of anything close to engaging. Opening with Living Thing's first single and most upbeat tune "Nothing to Worry About" was a good call, but following it up with the album's weakest song, the Paul Simon-esque title track, gave the impression of a band treading water. And someone should tell Peter Morén that no matter how many times he runs, jumps and trots across the stage like a wind-up toy it's not going to make boring songs any more interesting.
This stagnancy was even more pronounced by songs like Falling Out's "It Beats Me Every Time," but shoegazey Writer's Block standout "Start to Melt" (sung by drummer John), convinced the audience to unfold their arms and get into it. Sadly, PB&J hit the brakes again on "Amsterdam," which, despite being one of my favorite songs from the band, was clunky and far less compelling without its the toy-whistle hook.
The mid-tempo songs tended to suffer, but the anthemic, vintage-pop numbers found PB&J in their element.
Three of the songs featured unnecessary, strategically placed breakdowns seemingly designed for audience baiting. Of course there was one right in the middle of "Young Folks," which despite Morén's spot-on whistling, isn't nearly as good without Victoria Bergsman's vocal parts. "Do these guys think they're famous or something?" my friend asked during the over-dramatic breakdown. "Only Bruce Springsteen can pull that shit off." It was the song that everyone had come to see, but the fact that they treated such a simple pop song with such grandeur was an awkward misstep.
Following the overblown version of "Young Folks," PB&J dug deep and laid into the bright, upbeat rocker "I Don't Know What I Want Us to Do" from their eponymous debut LP which was pretty much the highlight of the show. Upbeat, energetic pop songs are where PB&J thrive, and they continued down this path with the propulsive "Objects of My Affection" to end the set proper. The night closed with an extra-long version of "Up Against a Wall," replete with Peter's weird jumping, amp-standing, and borderline crowd-surfing. As long songs tend to do in a live setting, it dragged a bit at the end. That is, until they broke into an impromptu cover of Joy Division's "Transmission," which along with an epic, wanky guitar solo outro, made for an epic and quite excellent finale.
Overall, the new songs fell just as flat live as they do on record. The sparsity of Living Thing is admirable, and it's obvious that they aren't trying to cash in with another "Young Folks," but PB&J are at their best when they're channeling vintage guitar-pop and letting loose rather than holding back. That is, the old songs are thrust upon you while you have to get to the new ones yourself.
The balance of these two emotional responses made for an uneven show. Regardless, they still did the meet-and-greet autograph signing afterward, which is pretty damn precious and makes it hard for me to hate on them too much. And besides, a boring show is still better than a bad one.
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I wish the show had been better, but the new material is definitely lacking.
I still have a man-crush on Bjorn, though.
It was pretty packed. Not sold out, but the floor in front of the stage was elbow to elbow. Overall, turn out was real good.
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