Peter, Bjorn and John at the Madrid (Swedes Have More Fun)

Maybe the reason that so much good “American” pop and rock music comes out of Sweden nowadays is that Swedes are genetically predisposed to having more fun when they pick up guitars or get behind drums. They charm, rock like monkeys and radiate goodwill and humanity. It’s been true with every Swedish act I’ve seen here over the past two years, including the Shout Out Louds, Jens Lekman and the Perishers. Also, each of them has stuck around to meet the audience and even sign autographs — which, in the case of last night’s act, is pretty impressive, considering the indie credentials this band has seized over the past year.

It’s trite to credit a band with playing to a small house just as energetically as if it were a packed arena, but last night, the Swedish guitar-pop trio Peter, Bjorn and John treated the half-empty Madrid Theatre like it was a sold-out Tiger Stadium. Though their breakthrough album, Writer’s Block, came out overseas sometime in the middle of ’06 (making many top-ten lists last year, including mine) it didn’t see stateside release until early this year, coming with a push that included a heroic performance at SXSW, which I was lucky enough to catch.

You tell ’em, Bjorn.