The adorably wimpy Swedes’ whistled 2006 focus track, “Young Folks,” suggested sensitive boy-children who would have a hard time lifting guitars, let alone rocking out on them. But Peter Bjorn and John’s sixth disc is pretty mannish, a foray into Seventies English punk rock, early U2 and R.E.M. anthemics, arena-drum bombast and a cowbell-happy jam their fan Kanye West could flow over. They aren’t trying to throw a muscle shirt over their sniffy, heart-sick lyricism, they’re pumping it up. “I’m gonna break your nose and sing about it,” Peter brags in “Breaker Breaker,” a song about beating up a rock critic. Who wouldn’t love to see that rumble?
Listen to “Breaker Breaker”:
