My City's NOT a Sucker: Peter, Bjorn & John

Indie sensation turned alt-radio sensation Peter, Bjorn & John hadn't stopped in San Diego in the six months since their latest album started getting all its buzz. The band was not touring extensively, but they had played L.A. and Coachella without popping in to say hi.



No more, as the Young Folks'ers will play the House of Blues on Aug. 1 (they may not tour a ton, but, when they do, they plan ahead), a day after playing in L.A.

Peter, Bjorn & John — Young Folks (MP3)
Peter, Bjorn & John — Amsterdam (MP3)

Cashing In: Peter, Bjorn & John

In some of the least-surprising news of 2007...



The Peter, Bjorn & John whistle-fest "Young Folks" has shown up in an add for AT&T wireless (what you used to know as Cingular). The PB&J/AT&T mash-up leaves me wondering: did it really take this long for someone to pick up the super-catchy, seemingly made-for-licensing song, or had the band turned down/resisted previous offers?

Once more, with feeling: Peter, Bjorn and John — Young Folks (MP3)

The South By Southwest slowdown

That giant sucking sound coming from blogland all this week is the annual South By Southwest extravaganza in Austin, Texas. It's an excuse to party masquerading as a showcase for music journalists. Music is knee-jerk enough with blog hype and follow-the-leader magazine and newspaper people. Now you have those writers, fueled by beer, barbecue and no sleep, running around to dozens of gigs and screaming "BEST SHOW EVER" about some all-Korg metal band with a lead singer named Gorf.


Thing is, SXSW can be a huge boost for bands. Tapes 'n' Tapes got a major bump from playing, seemingly, three times every day last year. Before they were playing arenas, Bloc Party played in an Urban Outfitters.

So I can understand why someone would be a little hyper-sensitive to the hype and try to kill it before it begins. But this is just silly: Someone has started a blog dedicated to stopping Swedish pop band Peter Bjorn and John, which is going the Tapes 'N' Tapes route, playing a bucketful of shows this week.

This is about as close to shooting yourself in the foot you can get without an actual gun. The whistle-happy single "Young Folks" got a little overplayed among the indie kids, but this is a band that about 2% of the world has even heard of.

The blog's main worry is that PB&J will be "hailed as the standard bearers for a whole genre of music." We have a LONG way to go before that happens. Want to make music better? Try to stop the popularity of the gunk that's ACTUALLY POPULAR. Upset about Death Cab or Modest Mouse being the current indie standard bearers? Well, remember what was on the radio before "Soul Meets Body" and "Float On"? Creed and Limp Bizkit.

It's insular, elitist muck, and I would say that about any kind of "Stop (enter indie band here)" effort.

Sorry if I sound really bitter about this. It's just that there's so much good/great/different music that nobody is hearing because of all the usual label/radio crap. This just seems so misguided.

For your consideration:
Stop Peter, Bjorn and John blog
Peter, Bjorn and John — Amsterdam (MP3)
Peter, Bjorn and John — Chills (MP3)

The other album out today

Today's big release was the new Bloc Party album, and I'm excited as all get out about it, but I'm equally excited about the new Peter, Bjorn and John album finally out in the U.S. today. The single "Young Folks" was a blogland staple last year, and rightly so. But the whole album has a slow, dry cool to it. It's a great Sunday afternoon record and highly recommended.

They also just wrapped up a mini U.S. invasion, selling out secret shows in NYC, playing Conan, and playing a sold-out L.A. gig back on the first.

Them's be blowin' up, so big, even Chanel has noticed. If you aren't down with Ratatat (and I'm not), skip to 1:53. Chanel show.

Finally, I was in Crush last weekend and they were playing "Young Folks." It is a fantastic song, but it's certainly not anchoring a weak album.

Peter Bjorn and John — Paris 2004 (MP3)
Peter Bjorn and John — Young Folks (MP3) (Highly Rec.)