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PBJ, IT’S WHAT’S FOR LUNCH: Peter, Bjorn & John, Fillmore, Thursday Night

BY AMY Z. QUINN Peter Bjorn and John’s MySpace profile cheerfully announces that in their band, “everybody writes, everybody sings, everybody plays, everybody’s happy.” Good enough for me, and for the rest of the crowd at the sold-out Fillmore/TLA Thursday night. Long story short, this was the first visit to our fair city for the Stockholm, Sweden-based trio, and you can bet your old ABBA records they’ll be back before too long. As for “Young Folks,” it occurs to me that the song suffers that the hands of its music video. Oh, the video’s great and all — interesting animation, neat little storyline, and of course the whistling — but it threatens to distract from the earnestly romantic lyrics and bumpin’ dance beat. Luckily, PB&J landed with (among other things) a confident, funky and stage-filling version of the song that even featured a cameo by Victoria Bergsman (late of the Concretes). I also liked the tender, stripped-down version of “Amsterdam.” Fujiya and Miyagi, the second band on the three trios on the bill Thursday night, brought an arsenal of hip-swiveling electrofunk fueled by Matt Hainsby’s lewd, rolling bass. I especially like “Collarbone, which is a hell of a song, actually. You think it’s the bass that’s got you moving, until the guitar sneaks in on you like a tickling finger. Tickle Me Miyagi!
Grade: A

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