Peter Bjorn and John

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Peter Bjorn and John
Performing "Young Folks" at the 2007 Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival
Background information
Origin	Stockholm, Sweden
Genre(s)	Indie rock
Years active	1999 – present
Label(s)	Wichita, Parasol Records, Almost Gold Recordings
Website	peterbjornandjohn.com
Members
Peter Morén Björn Yttling John Eriksson

Peter Bjorn and John is a Swedish indie rock band, formed in Stockholm in 1999 and named after the first names of the band's current members: Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass guitar, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriksson (drums, percussion and vocals).

They are best known for the 2006 single "Young Folks", which featured Victoria Bergsman, formerly of The Concretes, and was a top 20 hit in the UK Singles Chart. The hit was featured in the 2008 motion picture "21." It was also named NME's second best track of 2006, beaten only by "Over and Over" by Hot Chip.^[1] In Australia it was voted number 16 in the annual Triple J Hottest 100 for 2006.

1 History
2 Discography
- 2.1 Albums
- 2.2 Singles
3 Media song appearances
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

Morén and Yttling began playing music together while at high school. They shared an interest in bands such as The Stone Roses and Ride. They are influenced by, but not interested in replicating, classic 60's baroque pop, power pop and new wave.^[2] Their first band disbanded after they moved to Stockholm, where they met Eriksson in 1999 to form Peter Björn and John. Their first gig was an unsuccessful one aboard a boat in Stockholm. Their expectations were not high from the start, as they "just wanted to make good music for [their] own amusement".^[3] Lars Skoglund of the band Laakso has filled in for the band on drums and played bongos during some live shows. The video to their song "Young Folks" was animated and directed by Ted Malmros from Shout Out Louds^[4]

Morén has recorded a solo album, The Last Tycoon, slated for release April 8, 2008.^[5]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Peter Bjorn and John (2002)
Falling Out (2005)
Writer's Block (2006) #68 UK, #114 US, #1 Heatseekers Album Chart (U.S. Sales: 148,500^[6])

[edit] Singles

"Young Folks" (2006) (#13 UK)(#26 CAN)(*)(US #110*#) (#22 US Modern Rock*), (#12 US AAA Rock Charts*)
"Let's Call It Off" (2006)
"Objects of My Affection" (2007)

* denotes a song still currently active on the charts # Song peaked at #10 on US Billboard Bubbling Under Charts.

[edit] Media song appearances

"Objects of My Affection" is played in the background of a Pontiac G6 commercial.
"Up Against the Wall" is played in the background of a Levi's Jeans commercial. Both songs are from Writer's Block.
"Young Folks" has been used many times in TV shows and adverts, see the article for examples.
"The Chills" was used in the video game Major League Baseball 2K8.