JUST WHAT IS IT ABOUT The Cardigans that makes grown critics, raised on grungy rock n roll, turn to cashmere at the easy listening sounds of these sweet, Swedish songsters? Could it be their sexy singer, Nina Persson, who teases with her bleached blonde bob and racy lyrics? Or could it be their guitarist and main composer, Peter Svensson, who leaps around the stage with muso joy, sometimes tripping over his own cleverness? Actually, it's the songs, those superb, lovingly crafted tunes which challenge and discomfit the crowd while simultaneously soothing them into a breathless sense of security and warmth.
At the Olympia Theatre last night the softstroking Scandinavians opened with a lounged up version of Black Sabbath's Iron Man, Peter Svensson plucking the lead guitar lines with almost parodic pleasure. Then Nina began to trill the la la la intro to Your New Cuckoo, and rock n roll was turned on its head forced to stop crowd surfing and made to lie back on the sofa. Sick And Tired was almost pure soft jazz - tall handsome bass player Magnus Sveningsson making a meal of the song's signature rift, while Nina breathlessly intoned the sad, saccharine flavoured sentiments.
Step On Me proved that The Cardigans aren't all soft and fluffy and that they're still capable of stomping a good riff into the ground, while Been It shows that Nina is not just flirting with sexual imagery - she really can seduce with a few well delivered innuendos. When she suddenly throws off the victim's veil for Hey! Get Out Of My Way, she turns her feline purr into a tiger's growl, but it's her mix of vampishness and vulnerability which gives Lovefool its shuffling momentum.
It's during the encore, however, that The Cardigans really strip off their woolly veneer and show the rough sheen beneath. Losers is an acid trip down the dark alleys of love Carnival is a swirling, sleazy fairground ride, and Happy Meal II is an off the wall take on I Am The Walrus. The Cardigans may not be the greatest live band around, but they're one of the easiest to listen to.
