Peter Bjorn and John & Chairlift @ Fine Line Music Cafe

(Chairlift)

The Fine Line Music Cafe hosted both Peter Bjorn and John and Chairlift Tuesday night for a strong double bill that packed the venue. Both bands have been buoyed in recent years by the fortune (or misfortune, depending on who you ask) of having ubiquitous songs that helped propel them to bigger audiences. While each band played the songs people really wanted to hear, both showing strength beyond their “hit” singles, one still ended up falling a bit flat.

(Chairlift)

(Chairlift)

(Chairlift)

First up was the Brooklyn-based eclectic synth pop band Chairlift. The three piece band, touring behind their 2008 release Does You Inspire You, played a strong, albeit low key, 45 minute set. Their simmering pop sounds come straight from the ’80s and they had a very tight sound that did a good job of recreating the dense textures of their album. The band is fronted by the velvet voiced chanteuse Caroline Polachek on keyboards, with male foil Aaron Pfenning on guitars and vocals. Patrick Wimberly multi-tasked as the de-facto rhythm section sitting behind the drum kid and also jumping on bass for a few songs. When Wimberly thumped out the intro bass lines to “Brusies,” you could see many people in the crowd raise an eyebrow trying to figure out where they knew the song from. It took a second, but then you heard the quiet rumbling of people as they realized it was the song from one of Apple’s iPod ads. While the whimsical “Bruises” is a good song, the band proved to be more than just the “iPod band” over the course of their set. They played most of the songs from their record, including the set’s highlight “Planet Health,” and added in a new song that was sung in French.

(Chairlift)

(Chairlift)

(Chairlift)

(Chairlift)

(Chairlift)

(Peter Bjorn and John)

(Peter Bjorn and John)

Peter Bjorn and John are a three piece pop band based out of Sweden who have blown up in the last few years. 2007 saw the release of their stellar album Writer’s Block, which contained their massive hit “Young Folks.” Since then the band has tried to venture off the beaten path, but cannot seem to climb out from under the shadow that album (and song) cast over them. They released an instrumental album (Seaside Rock) last year and last month released their more icy and dense LP Living Things. While I commend the band for not riding the coattails of “Young Folks,” I can’t say that I am on board with the new album, which was highlighted extensively during their 60 minute set. The band played the role of the goofy/fun pop band pretty well (posing for the crowd, running around the stage), but with the albatross of Living Things still lurking, even their showmanship was not enough to keep the show entertaining. The highlights throughout the set were their sporadic playing of older songs that seemed to show the band really utilizing their great power pop songwriting and excellent vocal harmonies. The highlight came with a rousing performance of the Writer’s Block opener “Object of My Affection,” the last song of the band’s main set.

(Peter Bjorn and John)

(Peter Bjorn and John)

(Peter Bjorn and John)

(Peter Bjorn and John)

(Peter Bjorn and John)

The band came back out for their encore but unfortunately failed to regain the momentum they had finally found at the end of their set. They started with a clunky take on Living Things‘ “Nothing to Worry About,” followed by the crowd pleasing, but still relatively listless “Young Folks.” The crowd sang, (and whistled) along with the band and seemed genuinely happy to hear the song the band is most known for. While I am fairly certain quite a few people were there only for that song, the band still decided to play one more song to end their set. They finished with an meandering and self indulgent version of “Up Against the Wall,” featuring guitar solos, a light show and a brief break into a cover of Joy Division’s “Transmission.” The song, like the whole set, was a shining example a band that isn’t quite sure who they want to be and was indicative of a show that had lots of potential but ended up falling on its face.

(Peter Bjorn and John)

(Peter Bjorn and John setlist courtesy of Brody McCoy)

[Review by Josh Keller, photos by Jon Behm.]

Peter Bjorn and John: Purchase | Official | Twitter | MySpace | Wikipedia
Chairlift: Purchase | Official | MySpace | Wikipedia

Also: Chairlift “Does You Inspire You” Review