There are only two tracks on Peter Bjorn and John’s latest album that’ll remind you a whole lot of those radio-friendly songs on 2006′s “Young Folks”-spawning Writer’s Block (one of which features a chorus of “Hey, shut the fuck up, boy! / You’re starting to piss me off!”, meaning you probably won’t hear it on the radio any time soon) but you probably won’t miss them much: Living Thing is icier and much more concerned with complex, 80′s style dance beats than surf-y guitar riffs, but there’s still a whole lot of sunny pop here to warm you up – particularly on the whimsical “Blue Period Picasso”, the Vampire Weekend-reminiscent “I Want You!” and the just-damn-perfect title track.

8.3 / 10

Almost Gold Recordings
March 31, 2009