State of the Ark

"The third album by these Swedish showmen is actually a gutsy, heartfelt lesson in casual rock sass with at least as many melodies as the Darkness' latest" - Spin. "The Ark meld Elvis Costello's crisp, caustic hooks and Queen's charismatic overindulgence" - Entertainment Weekly. "The Ark is Malmo Sweden's answer to Scissor Sisters: knowing but not ironic, melodic and playful; and last but not least, gleefully over the top. Unselfconscious but aware, Ola Salo is the perfect pop star for our cynical times" - Time Out NY. "These dudes made a killer album. Honestly. I can hear influences from Elton John and The Cure to Bowie" - Transworld Skateboarding.

The Ark is Sweden's answer to Scissor Sisters and the Darkness, specializing in bad puns, bad unitards, and great big glam rock hooks. But where the former draws inspiration from Elton John and the latter from Queen, this lot seems to have discovered its calling through Duran Duran's Seven and the Ragged Tiger, matching stealthy disco rhythms with cheesy rock riffs and squiggly synthesizer lines. But then there's singer Ola Salo, a gender-bender in the mold of Marc Bolan with a serious mean streak that surfaces in not-as-superficial-as-you-might-expect tracks such as "This Piece of Poetry Is Meant To Do No Harm" and "Rock City Wankers," in which he prods, "You put a spike into your vein/Oh no! Does it make you think you've got the blood of Thunders in your brain?" Is it any wonder the band has struck a chord with John Cameron Mitchell, the creator of Hedwig, who has picked two of Salo's songs for inclusion in his next movie, Shortbus? --Aidin Vaziri