Peter Bjorn and John - Living Thing

“Peter Bjorn and John? The happy-go-lucky Swedes responsible for whistle-core pop smash Young Folks? They’re great, any whistling this time?” No, rhetorical review invention, there isn’t, but yours is likely to be a popular misconception for those unfamiliar with the remainder of their output, so I wouldn’t feel bad about it. “OK, thanks. So it’s happy-go-lucky pop sans whistles then?” Not exactly, my imaginary friend. In fact, it’s one of the most consistently interesting records of 2009 thus far: like MIA covered by Depeche Mode on first single Nothing To Worry About, disco-Cure on It Don’t Move Me and a little bit Afrobeat (well, like a stripped-down You Can Call Me Al at any rate) on Living Thing. It’s a layered, fascinating listen filled with unexpected nuances and underpinned by a slightly unhinged atmosphere. “Ah. Maybe I’ll just get that Noah and the Whale album, in that case." Fine, it's your loss, pal.