Peter, Bjorn and John Returning to SF to Play Classic Album

Photo Credit: Johan Bergmark

Music is the most amazingly connective art form because a listener can fall absolutely in love with a song without truly knowing what they’re hearing. 

All it takes is one experience with the atmospheric brilliance of My Bloody Valentine’s “To Here Knows When” to be lost in a sense of euphoric, dreamy bliss—even if there is no way to tell what’s a guitar and what is some distorted synth programming.

Yes–there is a joy in the mystery, but there is also something immensely attractive about hearing a song with an instantly recognizable and identifiable sound. Something that anyone can do, regardless of their musical talent. Something like a whistle.

Case in point for the wonders of that simplest musical output: Peter, Bjorn and John’s 2006 masterpiece, “Writer’s Block.” While the Swedish trio were elevated into the stratosphere due in large part to the album’s whistle-heavy smash hit, “Young Folks,” the album is filled to the brim with other pursed-lip productions—whistles abound on numerous tracks, making for an unbelievably catchy collection of songs.

“There's something about the whistling that just connects to the listeners—maybe it’s because it’s something they all can do,” said Peter Morén, guitarist and vocalist for Peter, Bjorn and John. “It’s easy—it’s like snapping your fingers, I guess. It makes for a very personable song.”

On Friday night at the Great American Music Hall, there will be whistles aplenty, as the group will play “Writer’s Block” in its entirety as part of their first San Francisco performance in seven years.

Although “Writer’s Block” was a breakthrough effort powered in large part by “Young Folks,” the album is absolutely loaded with great indie pop songs. “Amsterdam” is a stomping and forceful anthem (whistling? of course) and “Objects of My Affection” is a desperate, propulsive jam to open the album (you bet there is a whistling sound.) 

Even the songs where the whistling is absent (gasp!) are classics—“Start to Melt” is a lo-fi tour-de-force—something that wouldn’t feel out of place on Guided By Voices’ “Bee Thousand,” and the lonely, austere album closer “Poor Cow,” is a gorgeously forlorn piece of acoustic discontent. 

In short, there is a reason why people are still talking in such revered tones about “Writer’s Block.” Written after the relatively modest reaction to their first two albums, “Writer’s Block” represented a sea change for Peter, Bjorn and John. At the time, Morén didn’t quite know they were penning a legendary album, although he did have some inkling that they had found a winning formula.

“It felt different and it felt good when we were writing it, but I don’t think any of us had any sense it would take on this kind of life,” said Morén. “I think the first indication we had was that the DJs were playing “Young Folks” in the club in Stockholm before the album came out. When that started happening, we realized that we might be onto something with this album.”

Powered by the ubiquitous “Young Folks,” “Writer’s Block” ended up as one of the most acclaimed albums of 2006, ending up on numerous year-end lists from publications such as Under the Radar, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. 

As tends to be the case with landmark albums, “Writer’s Block” has perhaps unfairly overshadowed the other works produced by Peter, Bjorn and John, who followed up their breakthrough release with the incredibly solid “Seaside Rock” in 2008, before taking a more daring, adventurous and darker turn with 2009’s “Living Thing.” 

The band has continued to churn out great records, although it’s been more than five years since their last release, 2020’s “Endless Dream,” a record—like countless others from that time period—that was disrupted by the global pandemic.

“I think we all love ‘Writer’s Block,’ but there are always two sides to albums like that,” said Morén. “We’ve put out nine albums, and sometimes I think it’s a shame that people didn’t pay more attention to those other releases. But that’s just how things go sometimes.”

Despite the lengthy break between Peter, Bjorn and John albums, Morén has remained busy. His later endeavor is SunYears, a solo project with a recognizable indie-pop bent. SunYears will be releasing an album later this year, and Morén also produced a new Robert Forster record, which is coming out in May. 

Peter, Bjorn and John has played live only sparingly in recent years, but when the music festival Just Like Heaven—a gathering of indie rock grandees to be held in Pasadena on May 10—asked them to play “Writer’s Block” in full, the band opted to take up the offer and build a tour around that appearance. There are also plans to extend their tour into 2026 for a proper 20-year anniversary of the release.

Morén said the band has been experimenting with the structure of the album, and currently they’re planning on playing the album in reverse, starting with “Poor Cow” and ending with the instrumental title track. They’ll also play selections from their other albums.

With big touring plans on the horizon, Morén said he didn’t know when Peter, Bjorn and John would release their next album, but the group is committed to putting more music out into the public.“We always said when we started this thing that we wanted to put out 10 albums,” said Morén. “And we are at nine right now. So, there is obviously some unfinished business for us.”

Show Details: 
Peter, Bjorn and John play “Writer’s Block”
Where: Great American Music Hall 
When: 8 p.m., Friday, May 9 
Tickets: $32.50 plus fees, available here.