Peter Bjorn and John
Peter Bjorn and John | |
---|---|
![]() Peter Bjorn and John | |
Background information | |
Also known as | P,B & J |
Origin | Stockholm, Sweden |
Genres | |
Years active | 1999–present |
Labels | |
Members | |
Website | peterbjornandjohn.com |
Peter Bjorn and John are a Swedish indie pop/rock band, formed in Stockholm in 1999 and named after the first names of the band's members: Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriksson, known in his solo work as Hortlax Cobra (drums, percussion and vocals). Yttling also worked as producer for the band's first four albums.
They are best known for the 2006 single "Young Folks", which featured Victoria Bergsman, formerly of The Concretes, and was a top 20 hit in the UK Singles Chart, as well as being featured in football video game FIFA 08, MLB 2k13, the singing game Lips, as the school project in the film Bandslam, as part of the soundtrack of hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother, as the opening track in the pilot episode of Gossip Girl and the theme tune to British Television adverts for Homebase store and Air New Zealand "Safety Safari" surfing video. It was also named NME's second-best track of 2006, beaten by "Over and Over" by Hot Chip.[2] In Australia it was voted number 16 in the annual Triple J Hottest 100 for 2006.
History
Formation: 1997–2000
Morén and Yttling began playing music with each other while in school. They shared an interest in bands such as The Stone Roses and Ride. They are influenced by, but not interested in replicating, classic '60s baroque pop, power pop and new wave.[3] Their first band disbanded after they moved to Stockholm, where they met Eriksson in 1999 to form Peter, Björn and John. Their first gig was an unsuccessful one aboard a boat in Stockholm. Their expectations were not high from the start, as they "just wanted to make good music for [their] own amusement".[4] Lars Skoglund of the band Laakso has filled in for the band on drums and played bongos during some live shows.
First years: 2001–2005
After releasing the Forbidden Chords EP and a pair of singles ("Failing and Passing" and "I Don't Know What I Want Us to Do"), the band released its self-titled first album in 2002 on the tiny Beat That! label. After more shows, more EPs (People They Know, 100m of Hurdles), and another single ("See Through"), the group jumped to the Planekonomi label in 2004 and released the Beats, Traps and Backgrounds EP. It was soon followed by the 2004 album Falling Out, which was picked up for American release by Hidden Adenda in late 2005.[5]
Mainstream success: 2006–2011
The band's third album, Writer's Block (2006), followed a year later and became a minor international hit. The video to their song "Young Folks" was animated and directed by Ted Malmros from Shout Out Louds.[6]
After completing various tours in support of Writer's Block, the band focused on other projects before coming together to record and release a largely instrumental album, Seaside Rock, in the autumn of 2008. Living Thing, the band's darker, more experimental fourth full-length album, was released several months later in early 2009. Peter, Bjorn and John played Lollapalooza 2009 in Chicago.[7] In 2011, Peter Bjorn and John returned to their melodic pop roots with the decidedly more accessible Gimme Some. The band also opened up for Depeche Mode during their Tour of the Universe.[5] Gimme Some's second single "Second Chance" is heard prominently in advertising for the American light beer Bud Light and as the theme song for the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls.
Recent years: 2012–present
The three band members are also founding members of the Swedish artist collective and record label INGRID. The band soon revealed that work had commenced on their seventh album, but were hit by creative setbacks.[8] In April 2015, Peter Bjorn and John released their first new music in four years with one-off single "High Up (Take Me to the Top)" on INGRID Volym 2, a Record Store Day exclusive double-LP of which there are only 500 copies.[9] In July of the same year, the band debuted two new songs on NPR,[10] before officially announcing forthcoming LP Breakin' Point much later on 11 March 2016, along with promotional single "What You Talking About."[11] Rolling Stone said of the single: "The band also unveiled the album's first single "What You Talking About?," an infectious slice of synth-heavy indie pop." The album was released on June 10 2016.[12] The album's first lead single (bearing the same name as the album), "Breakin' Point" was released on 24 March 2016, following being premiered by Zane Lowe on Apple's Beats 1 Radio as the World Record.
In August 2018, the band announced the upcoming release of their eighth album, Darker Days, which is set to be released on October 19, 2018. [13]
Collaborations and solo work
Peter, Bjorn and John also collaborated with Canadian-born actor and hip-hop star Drake on his 2009 mixtape, So Far Gone, on the song "Let's Call It Off." Many rappers like Wale, GZA and 88 Keys collaborated on Re-Living Thing, a remix of Living Thing, released on 8 September 2009 by Mick Boogie.
Morén has released three solo albums. On 8 April 2008 he released a solo album in English, The Last Tycoon on the Wichita Recordings and Quarterstick Records labels.[14][15][16] In 2010, he released a solo album in Swedish, I Spåren Av Tåren. Most recently he released the more political Pyramiden, influenced by modern indie, new wave, and the formation of the artistic collective INGRID, of which he is a founding member.
Björn Yttling has previously worked on jazz music and as a member of INGRID has collaborated in bands such as 'Smile' as well as pursuing his solo work as 'Yttling Jazz'. John Eriksson, having previously released three EPs under the name, has continued as a member of Ingrid to work under the name Hortlax Cobra releasing experimental electronic music. His first album, 'Night Shift', was released on the collective's record label in 2012. His second album '1984' was released in 2012.[17] In 2017 he released his third album "Lightworks" on INGRID.[18] He is also a member of the Ingrid project Starlight Serenaders.
The group collaborated with producer Claptone, providing vocals on the track "Puppet Theatre". The song is the first single from the album Charmer, released in October 2015.[19]
Discography
Albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SWE [20] |
BEL (FL) [21] |
IRL [22] |
UK [23] |
US Indie [24] |
US [24] | ||
Peter Bjorn and John | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Falling Out |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — |
Writer's Block | — | 90 | 26 | 68 | 14 | 155 | |
Seaside Rock |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — |
Living Thing |
|
— | — | — | 162 | 7 | 92 |
Gimme Some |
|
49 | — | — | — | 20 | 109 |
Breakin' Point |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — |
Darker Days |
|
x | x | x | x | x | x |
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
EPs
Year | EP | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
SWE[20] | ||
2001 | Forbidden Chords | — |
2003 | 100 m of Hurdles | — |
2003 | (I Just Wanna) See Through/Say Something Else (with Spearmint) | — |
2004 | Beats Traps and Backgrounds | 45 |
2006 | Young Folks The Remixes | — |
2009 | It Don't Move Me | — |
2016 | Dominos | — |
Singles
Year | Song | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS [32] |
BEL (FL) [21] |
BEL (WA) [33] |
CAN [34] |
FIN [35] |
GER [36] |
IRE [22] |
JPN [37] |
NED [38] |
UK [23] |
US [39] |
US Alt [39] |
US Dance [39] | |||
2002 | "Failing and Passing" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Peter Bjorn and John |
2002 | "I Don't Know What I Want Us To Do" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
2003 | "People They Know" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
2005 | "Teen Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Falling Out |
"Tailormade" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2006 | "Young Folks" | 42 | 52 | 57 | 27 | 9 | 31 | 24 | — | 75 | 13 | 110[A] | 22 | 19 | Writer's Block |
"Let's Call It Off" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 130 | — | — | — | ||
2007 | "Objects of My Affection" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
2009 | "Nothing to Worry About" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 32 | — | 139 | — | — | — | Living Thing |
"Lay It Down" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"It Don't Move Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —[B] | — | 10 | ||
2011 | "Breaker Breaker"[40] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Gimme Some |
"Second Chance" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Dig a Little Deeper" / "What I Could Do If I Wanted To"[41] |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"May Seem Macabre" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2016 | "What You Talking About" | — | —[C] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Breakin' Point |
"Breakin' Point" | — | — | —[D] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"—" denotes a release that did not chart. |
Other Charting Songs
Year | Song | US Rock [39] |
Album | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | "Eyes" | 48 | Gimme Some | ||
"—" denotes singles that did not chart, have not charted yet, or were not released. |
Notes
|
Other contributions
- Acoustic 07 (2007, V2 Records)
References
- ^ Tim Sendra. "Peter Bjorn and John". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- ^ "NME 2006 Poll". NME.com (2006). Retrieved 20 January 2007.
- ^ Sendra, Tim. "Peter, Bjorn and John: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
- ^ PBS 106.7FM - Real Radio - Peter, Bjorn And John Q&A
- ^ a b "AOL - News, Sports, Weather, Entertainment, Local & Lifestyle". AOL.com. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Peter Björn and John official website". 2007-02-08. Last accessed April 21, 2007.
- ^ "Lollapalooza interview". Roxwel. August 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
- ^ Studarus, Laura. "In the Studio: Peter Bjorn and John on Their Next Album | Under the Radar - Music Magazine". Undertheradarmag.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ "Hear Peter Bjorn and John's First Single in Four Years "High Up (Take Me To The Top)" — TRANSVERSO". Transversomedia.com. 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ "Peter Bjorn and John Debut Two New Songs, Hint at New Album on NPR's World Cafe — TRANSVERSO". Transversomedia.com. 2015-07-27. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ ""What You Talking About?" Peter Bjorn and John Finally Return With New Single, Album Announcement — TRANSVERSO". Transversomedia.com. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ "Peter, Bjorn and John Profile – The Trio Reclaimed Their Sound on 'Breakin' Point'". Esquire.com. 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ Sam Sodomsky (2018-08-08). "Peter Bjorn and John Announce New Album and Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ Marc Hawthorne (April 7, 2008). "Social Competence by Peter Moren". www.avclub.com. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
- ^ https://www.allmusic.com/album/r1340539
- ^ Pitchfork: Peter Moren's "The Last Tycoon" Tracklist Revealed
- ^ Camp, Zoe (2012-12-14). "Hortlax Cobra – 1984 | Album Reviews". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ Zimmerman, Lee. "Hortlax Cobra: Lightworks :: Music :: Reviews :: Hortlax Cobra :: Paste". Pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ "Claptone Announces Debut Album 'Charmer,' Premieres First Track 'Puppet Theatre' (Exclusive)". Billboard. 2015-07-28. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ a b "Discography Peter Bjorn and John". Retrieved March 23, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Discografie Peter Bjorn and John". Retrieved March 23, 2013.
- ^ a b "Irish Charts". irishcharts.com.
- ^ a b Peak chart positions for albums and singles in the United Kingdom:
- Writer's Block album: "Peter Bjorn and John - Official Charts Company" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- Young Folks single: "Peter Bjorn and John featuring Bergsman - Official Charts Company" (select "Singles" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- Let's Call It Off single: Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK – 2006 + Weekly Updates + Sales 2006". zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- Living Thing album and Nothing to Worry About single: Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK – 2009 + Weekly Updates + Sales 2009". zobbel.de. Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ a b For Writer's Block: "Writer's Block - Peter Bjorn and John : Awards : AllMusic". Retrieved March 23, 2013. For Living Thing: "Living Thing - Peter Bjorn and John : Awards : AllMusic". Retrieved March 23, 2013.
- ^ a b "Peter Bjorn and John - MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 10 YEARS SINCE FIRST ALBUM!! ETC!!Peter Bjorn and John". peterbjornandjohn.com. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Peter Bjorn and John - Peter Bjorn and John - Releases - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Falling Out - Peter Bjorn and John - Releases - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Writer's Block - Peter Bjorn and John - Releases - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Seaside Rock - Peter Bjorn and John - Releases - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Living Thing - Peter Bjorn and John - Releases - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Gimme Some - Peter Bjorn and John - Releases - AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ "Australian Charts". australiancharts.com.
- ^ a b "Discografie Peter Bjorn and John Wallonie". Retrieved March 23, 2016.
- ^ "Billboard Canada". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Discography Peter Bjorn And John". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
- ^ "German Charts". germancharts.de.
- ^ "Peter Bjorn and John Album & Song Chart History". Japan Hot 100 for Peter Bjorn and John. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ "Megacharts". dutchcharts.nl.
- ^ a b c d e f "Billboard Charts". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
- ^ Brian Hodge. "Peter Bjorn and John – "Breaker Breaker"". potholesinmyblog.com. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
- ^ http://www.recordstoreday.com/SpecialRelease/4931
External links
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