I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to Peter, Bjorn, and John’s sixth record, Gimme Some. I was prepared to hate it, and was mildly dreading writing this review. Instead, the record is a surprising sprint through a variety of genres all culminating into well played Swedish pop songs. Like, Jens Lekman, Frida Hyvonen, and the Shout Out Louds, this band further proves my theory that some of the best music being made today is coming out of Sweden.
Gimmie Some really does run the gamut. There are traces of baroque, mainstream rock, a couple different varieties of punk, plenty of new wave, and even a bit of good old American indie pop. It’s all a bit fascinating. I hear a variety of influences, but can’t quite place my finger on any of them. It’s all filtered together quite well.
The album begins with “Tommorow Has to Wait” which sounds like a marching band on tranquilizers. The song starts with a fuzzy guitar line, before a single drum starts being beaten, a female harmony joins, and then the male vocal begins singing the lyrics: “I don’t think you are sorry for what you did.” It’s blissed out noise, and it’s beautiful.
Immediately after, ”Dig A Little Deeper” starts with a guitar line out of the ‘60’s. It has a surf sound reminiscent of pop songs from that decade with a more modern edge. I adore the chorus: “all art has been contemporary/dig a little deeper” complete with plenty of “whoa ohs.”
Late in the album is “black book” which is ‘80’s hardcore softened slightly, but quite good. This album is truly all over the map. I can’t imagine it’s easy to tackle this much territory, but Peter, Bjorn, and John do so. My favorite song on the album, “Down Like Me,” starts after that. It’s a chugging thing that would’ve easily fit on The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs. It ends in incoherent guitar lines behind a temperamental new wave beat that is completely great.
If you’re into weird, challenging pop music this is your thing. I’m excited about this album, and the fact that they have five others. This is going to be with me for a while.
Track listing:
01. Tomorrow Has to Wait
02. Dig a Little Deeper
03. Second Chance
04. Eyes
05. Breaker Breaker
06. May Seem Macabre
07. (Don’t Let Them) Cool Off
08. Black Book
09. Down Like Me
10. Lies
11. I Know You Don’t Love Me
