First Band On The Moon [LP]

The Cardigans: Nina Persson (vocals, snaps); Lasse Johansson (guitar, keyboards); Peter Svensson (guitar); Bengt Lagerberg (flute, drums); Magnus Sveningsson (bass). Additional personnel: Asa Hakansson, Inga Zeppezauer, Mattias Svensson, Maria Holm, Ronnie Weber, Gabriele Freese, Anna Bergstrom (violin); Ivan Bakran (cello, acoustic bass); Annette Helmers (cello); David Wilczewski (flute); Sven Andersson (saxophone); Peter Lindgard (trumpet); Patrik Bartosch (Clavinet); Lynette Koyana, Ulf Thuresson (background vocals). Recorded at Tambourine Studios #1 and #2, Malmo, Sweden. Sweden's Cardigans are steeped in a tradition of lush European pop that loosely stretches from the Beatles, through Abba, to Stereolab. But while FIRST BAND ON THE MOON, the quintet's second American album, hints at these touchstones and others like them, the muscular guitars that emanate from behind the Cardigans' expansive arrangements easily distinguish them from their forebears. Great pop hooks are, after all, a dime-a-dozen in Sweden; but pop power-chords are another matter. This is where the Cardigans' Black Sabbath influence emerges. No, we're not kidding. FIRST BAND ON THE MOON is the second consecutive record on which singer Nina Persson reconstitutes a song by Ozzy and company (in this case, "Iron Man") within a Swedish bubblegum context. The result is a first-rate gimmick--imagine, if you will, a female voice coyly stating, "I am iron man." Sabbath's aura can also be found invading the crispy guitar hook of "Your New Cuckoo," the bass throb behind the vibraphones on "Losers" and most clearly on the metallic Beatles feel of the verses to "Choke." This is certainly more than one would expect of another blonde, Swedish pop band.