Peter Bjorn and John – Gimme Some

As opening tracks go, PB&J seem to have it down to a tee. ‘Tomorrow has to wait’ is a start, an opening, the calm before the storm, the pre game cheerleaders. It’s withheld soar hints at something much bigger. A welcome to the start, which is followed by a rip and a stomp. A lot of time has been spent thinking about the order of this album. PB&J haven’t just sat in their ski lodge, lashed down some tracks and gone to tackle the slopes with time for a quick trip to Ikea and a steam bath. The methodical and layered sound that continues throughout the album shows that these boys know play together. There’s always a certain tightness that bands need to play to pull off the whimsical harmonies layered with choppy guitars and bongos (oh yeah). Without it, you can sound vague and clunky. But if you hit the sweet spot between pulling it off and not sounding like a camp site holiday band, you often have the ingredients to make beautiful pop music.

Probably best known for their chart hit ‘Young Folks’ in 2006 which was unfortunately murdered in a B&Q advert, PB&J have still kept the playful nature and use it well. ‘Eyes’ twinkles about with the joy of first love as Peter swells with confidence, ‘I don’t want to make you interested, I just want to make you the only one’. His luxuriously twee lyrics are further complimented with acapella hand claps and a jungle drum beat. If you don’t feel the need to dance then you have problems in your life.

‘Gimmie Some’ does it exactly as it says it should. It’s almost greedy in a playful sense, the fluidity of the layers all at once, voice, guitar and drum as well as elaborate percussion and mischievous harmonies would sound too much and too laboured if it weren’t for the sheer joy and upbeatness of thing. Claiming to take a lot of influence from baroque pop and power pop you can feel the energy they’ve put into creating something that lifts and exhilarates. Even in its slower moments such as ‘Down Like Me’ the mood still remains. Swung around with a walking bass line and muted softness, it still managed to waltz rather than drag its heels around in a strop.

As uplifting, soulful, exhilarating and inventive pop music goes, PB&J seem to have the nailed down the perfect formula. It’s difficult for them to step from underneath the shadow of their single ‘Young Folks’, simply because it was so formidably catchy. ‘Gimmie Some’ swings around the same ball park, yes it’s catchy, yes it’s ludicrous in its quirkiness, but what’s not to love about it? Rip off all your clothes, dance naked and don’t care. After all, what else is there to do in summer?