One-hit-wonders, my foot. Peter Bjorn And John are a veritable Swedish cottage industry, with one of the most solid, consistent pop/rock discographies of the 2Ks, straight up. The latest notch in that belt—their first after five years busied with various solo projects, collaborations and co-founding label/studio/artist collective INGRID—is their most Swedish album yet, which is to say their most ABBA album.
In any case, it’s easily their biggest-sounding: a bright, trebly, disco-poppin’ melody feast bursting with keyboards, harmonies, Tinkertoy production flourishes and chorus after towering chorus of fizzy, whiz-bang pop goodness. Heck, the title track (which, thanks to Peter Morén’s perennially adorable accent, elides “Jesus” with “Yeezus”) even features some whistling and (sort of) breakbeats, just to point up how much of a “Young Folks” retread it’s not. From oh-so-new-wave opener “Dominos” through to exultant, Cornershop-pinching anti-sellout anthem “Pretty Dumb Pretty Lame,” Breakin’ Point is as cute, impactful, excessive and gleefully unnecessary as the three-headed cartoon hammer on the tin.
—K. Ross Ho ffman
