NEWS: Peter Bjorn and John Cannot Be Stopped

MUSIC: Peter Bjorn and John Cannot Be Stopped

It's perfectly natural to hate certain bands—you could even say that our aesthetic oeuvre can be defined by what makes our blood boil as much as it is by what makes us smile. Still, starting a blog as a rally cry to destroy them is taking things a little too far. If you find that you must, however, at least try to make it as hilarious (unintentionally or otherwise) as Stop Peter Bjorn and John.

If you haven't heard of Peter Bjorn and John (also known by their tasty acronym, PB&J), they are the delightfully poppy trio of Swedes responsible for the single "Young Folks," an über-catchy little whistley duet with a vague 1960s throwback feel, the kind of song that can only be described as the Song of the Summer. Hating them is akin to hating butterflies or ice cream. But some people are just too cool for ice cream.

Oh dear.

I found this blog last night through delightful serendipity, and am saddened at the briefness of its tale, as it is almost poetic as it is in its arc of hope and ultimate failure. Mostly because somehow I can't stop laughing and I wish there was more to it. Apparently the guy behind the blog tried to plan some huge event outside a record shop where PB&J were set to play at SXSW. An anti-pop convocation, if you will.

Apparently Idolator was on the scene to capture the rally, but sadly, there was none to be had. The anonymous blog guy had, under the weight of a PB&J-induced "total mental and emotional breakdown," skipped out of dodge. The blog stops there, replete in either disgrace or a perverse job well done.

So, was the blog truly the work of a disturbed young folk with too much time on his or her hands, or was it insidious reverse-psychology marketing? The world may never know. All I know for sure is that the jaunty trio have just recently announced a worldwide tour to kick off next week, and the fact that they cannot be stopped is now quite clear indeed. Not that I mind. It's summer and the weather is beautiful, and sonic sugar is all I want to hear.

I can't NOT like them... The song Amsterdam off that album is awesome as well. The entire album really is decent as a whole, I like the shuffle feature on my iPod, but when a PB&J track comes up, I usually switch to the album and let it play all the way through. Glad I saw them in PDX at the Fir, as I wouldn't want to see them at the Crystal

Haha. That's hilarious.

They kinda hit me all at once, like suddenly I noticed that 3 of my friends had changed their MySpace song to Young Folks, plus I saw it on MTV and Fuse... that was all in one day, and that was the first time I'd heard of them. So I never really got a chance to like them, it was just like "Gah, go away."

Plus the name Bjorn is so goofy. I'm sure it's a legitimate Swedish name, but everytime I see it, I can't help picturing the Swedish Chef going "Beee-YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORN!"

"Young Folks"... its like Bobby McFerrin's, "Don't Worry, Be Happy", only 20 years later. Please folks, whether or not you like PB & J is their music going to cause a shift of the magnetic poles or drastically change the orbit of an earth killing asteroid? Switch stations, turn off the radio, or leave the club.

Jeez-Louise!

While I wouldn't go to the lengths of that one dude to display my disdain for them, they kind of really bug me for some reason. The song itself is fine, I guess (a bit too cute for my taste). But I've seen them three times now on various late-night shows playing the song; and watching them perform makes me want to bang my head against a wall. It's like watching amateur hour or something -- I HATE the way they keep looking at each other when they sing. And their sound to me, is like the light, non-alcoholic version of Belle and Sebastian for folks who might think B&S is too heavy.

:ugh:

:shivers:

But, god bless 'em. They have a catchy tune. I just hope I don't accidentally see them again.

They're Swedish. They don't know any better.

This is such a relief! I first heard of them a decent while ago when my friend sent me an MP3 saying it was "fun and twee," which was actually a bad way to introduce anything to me. I understand what "twee" is, I enjoy a lot of the music, but do we really need more stupid words to alienate casual music fans with? Anyway, I listened to it and thought, "yuck, why is this the direction of indie music, I dislike this aesthetic," and then I forgot about it for a while. Then I started seeing their name popping up everywhere on my friends' last.fm pages and livejournal entries. I was beginning to fear I was the only one who felt this way. I think I also really hate their band name, and that contributes to my feelings. If they gave themselves a real band name, I might be able to bring myself to like them.

WE MUST NOT LET THIS GO ON!!

Backlash is a bitch.

I actually like that song a lot. There are quiet a few other bands I'd like to "STOP", such as Belle and Sebastian, The Strokes, The White Stripes etc. Every time I hear any of those bands I can't help but to think, "I liked it better when it was called The Velvet Underground".

Then again, I never listen to any radio ever, so I guess that helps with me not being sick of those guys as well.

is this guy by any chance also blogging about how great ron paul is?

what a winner.
also, lol@ anyone who seriously claims "indie rock" is a genre.

/slap

Heh. I started listening to them simply because the video is pretty funny.

they're good, but not coldplay good.

hah....hah?

I loved it!

When I was sixteen I totally thought indie was a genre. I also thought you had to wear stripes and Lisa Loeb glasses to be admitted.

They aren't coming to Miami.

you mean really, really shit then. I listened to my mates coldplay album and though the fucking CD players was stuck. If they spent more time on writing songs than trying to save the world, they, well, they'd still be shit.

It's almost 20 years since there's been a new music revolution in the UK; we used to have one at least once a decade. I blame MTV and other music TV channels as 'looking good or interesting' isn't a talent, especially in the field of music.

YOUNG FOLKS IS SOOOOOOO ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!

As opposed to marketing term?

haha at sixteen, that is entirely excusable.
when i was sixteen i thought third wave ska was good.

*joins in with the slapping*

the swedish are great, end of story.

Yes they are.

I see your ABBA picture, and raise you a Gunther (and the sunshine girls!)

I'm going to their Brighton gig

i love liking bands that I'm meant to hate