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But where's the joie de vivre? Sunk like a 401(k), it seems.
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All told, it's a rag-tag collection, and one that comes short of the band's high standards even allowing for the commercial backlash.
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MojoA surfeit of wilfully sibilant '80s keyboard sounds notwithstanding, there's little to dislike. [May 2009, p.103]
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It's a frustrating listen, ultimately. There's enough promise here to suggest a band full of potential, but you get the feeling that they won't be breaking out of that cult status anytime soon.
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In an attempt to purge themselves of the jaunty millstone that is "Young Folks" and all the joyous indie pop that went along with it, PB&J have ended up with a purely draining effort. Living Thing borders on the narcoleptic.
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PB and J also don’t lose their mass appeal here.
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While a faithful stab at synth pop, there's nothing on the Swedes' fifth album to match 'Young Folks' and, though more coherent, it lacks the eclecticism that made 2006's "Writer's Block" so appealing.
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Living Thing sounds like a noble but flawed attempt by Peter Bjorn and John to test the fortitude of their songwriting using the most barren and broken of arrangements. But more often that not, it sounds like they settled on the drum-machine presets first, with the lyrics and melodies thrown on top as afterthoughts.
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Q MagazineLiving Thing, equally lovely and contrary, is somewhere between the two [albums, "Young Folks" and "Seaside Rock"]. [May 2009, p.116]
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In addition to a deficiency of hooks, Living Thing is further crippled by an all too obvious absence of charm.
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It's not so much that Living Thing doesn't have good songs, more that they have been arranged in such a way as to conceal their appeal.
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Living Thing sits uneasily in some sort of odd pop no-man’s-land: it’s not quite smart nor fully-realized enough for the sad-sack indie set, and it’s too despairing and insightful for the pop set.
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UncutWith so many bases cases covered, there's something for young folks and old folks--even if suspicious folks will still need some convincing. [Apr 2009, p.93]
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Under The RadarWhile it would've been nearly impossible to live up to the expectations [of Writer's Block], it's hard to believe they so thoroughly confounded them with such a middling release. [Spring 2009, p.73]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 18
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Mixed: 4 out of 18
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Negative: 2 out of 18
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GlenMSep 3, 2009
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Mar 16, 2022
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DavidE.Feb 2, 2010