Peter Bjorn and John

The video above is the official music video for Peter Bjorn and John's excellent "Young Folks." It's the lead single off the album, Writer's Block. The album was released in Sweden (where they're from) in 2006, but it was only released in the U.S. in 2007 and seems to be taking over the collective mouths and ears of the indie rock generation. I can therefore call it one of the songs of the year!

The video is cute and was probably cheap to produce (way to be smart, Peter Bjorn and John!) and, of course, the song is instantly catchy and infectious.

The whole album is worth checking out. It's chock full of great melodies and musical surprises. I'd never heard of them before "Young Folks" was all over The Fork, but I'm a big fan of Swedish indie pop music (Radio Dept, Shout Out Louds, anyone?) and am glad Peter Bjorn and John are getting a lot of international attention.

Here's another video for their shoegazy power pop ballad:



"Objects of my Affection" is actually the first song on the album (second track, after a perfect little intro) and the first song I fell in love with. It sounds like the version used in this video is a slightly different mix. I haven't been able to find any reference online to a "single version" of this song, but there's definitely some minor additions and the mix itself seems a little cleaner than on the album.

Regardless, this is another great song. I love the line, "I laugh more often now, I cry more often now, I am more me." The video is perfect. Peter Bjorn and John seem to make music that is fit to be played in art galleries and the video, with its random imagery and constant movement, reminds me of a recent gallery hopping adventure.

Finally, another video, for the latest single from Writer's Block, "Let's Call It Off:"



Not exactly sure what's going on there, but it doesn't matter. The song's great, huh? Definitely a single version here. With the initial (Swedish) release of the album, the version of "Let's Call it Off" was darker and moodier. For some reason, the guys didn't like it, remixed it and released it on the American edition as the "Single version." That's the mix here.

The song is a lot more traditional than the other stuff on the album, which proves these guys are extremely talented. They can pull off wild seven-minute distortion heavy tracks, catchy indie anthems, and ready-for-radio singles. I wonder what else they have under their sleeves for future releases?