Text: Dai Man

The eclectic lads from Sweden are back with a follow up to 2006’s breakaway hit Writer’s Block. Okay there was an instrumental album a year ago but that was released as “therapy for the band” they said. So, the first album proper since from the indie rock band who gave us the unbelievably catchy Young Folks and the cool-as-a-cat tribute song to New Zealand band The Chills, Living Thing shows a real maturing process has taken hold in the last couple of years. Though PB&J have lost none of their original irreverence, they have definitely taken a step up in the last couple of years. The vocals may be dark in tone but Living Thing is a percussive gem. Although the drums, guitars and piano are still here, there’s a real electro vibe to their music this time, possibly influenced by their recent collaboration with Kanye West. But unlike many albums produced with synths, this is a band who writes songs worth listening to; their observations are wry and easily identifiable to the youth of the world who can all relate to lines such as “Hey, shut the fuck up, boy – You are starting to piss me off”. Songs to look out for are first single Nothing To Worry About, title track Living Thing and Blue Period Picasso in which they sing the awesome, if somewhat chilly line “I’m a blue period Picasso stuck on the wall in the middle of a wall in Barcelona trying to figure out how to get down, because this solitude is bringing me down.” A welcome return.