Now that Fox has given The O.C. a death sentence, American couch potatoes will have to count on shows like Grey’s Anatomy to introduce them to the tunes they’ll soon be downloading off the Internet. The long-term success stories are few—Death Cab for Cutie got a major label deal out of such exposure, though their sales have been disappointing—but TV producers and viewers like nothing better than a good montage sequence set to a catchy indie track. Swedish trio Peter Bjorn And John’s “Young Folks” is one such example, garnering lots of attention after being featured on the headline-grabbing Grey’s Anatomy last fall. Peter Morén trades verses with former Concretes vocalist Victoria Bergsman atop layered percussion and instantly memorable whistling. And from a poorly-sung whistle to a synthetic one, Bjorn Yttling’s “Amsterdam” evokes the stout, post-grunge drum-machine pop of the mid-‘90s. There’s lots of sunny ‘60s pop that was prominent on PB&J’s previous records (“Start To Melt” is the most successful one here), but the group has expanded their palette and broadened their strokes on the misleadingly-titled Writer’s Block, which is a serendipitous move for their debut on the aptly-named Almost Gold imprint.
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