Peter Bjorn and John: Gimme Some

By Michael Lopez Tue., Mar. 29 2011 at 8:04 AM

Categories: Review Roundup

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Peter Bjorn and John - Gimme Some

Did March come in like a lion and out like a lamb? That is to be determined. One thing is for sure -- April is set to whip March's ass as far as new releases are concerned. However, March has one last effort to try and knock April down a peg.

That last-ditch effort would be Gimme Some, the sixth album from Swedish indie rockers Peter Bjorn and John. Much like The Strokes the week before them, PB&J have to live up to their most prized album -- 2006's Writer's Block. On that particular album, the trio joined forces with the Shout Out Loud's Victoria Bergsman for a little ditty named "Young Folks" -- maybe you've heard of it?

While Gimme Some doesn't quite measure up to Writer's Block, it does have a similarly insanely catchy lead single in "Second Chance." For what it's worth, Gimme Some is a solid album, but anyone and everyone just compares a band's latest album to their best work, regardless of the latest album's singular achievement.

What the critics are saying:

Paste Magazine: But something's different on Gimme Some, their sixth full-length studio album. The energy level is up; the production is clanky and raw; the guitars ring louder, and the drums hit harder.

Pitchfork: Gimme Some has been spun as a return to the band's sunnier, more winning sound, but it too often fails to reproduce Writer's Block's unexpected spark. The band seems to acknowledge as much on lead single "Second Chance".

The Guardian: Even at its most jagged, however, Gimme Some comes across as power-pop by numbers, the effortlessness with which the Swedish trio spin cheerful melodies and ineffable hooks making almost every song sound uncomfortably derivative.

Spin: But even when trading whistling for cowbell, there's something these three songwriters always remember: "You can't, can't count on a second chance." If the least they do is keep revealing new shades of the familiar, it's worth sticking around and seeing this band through.

Gimme Some is out now via Startime International.

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