I was listening to Last.fm’s music player yesterday for artists who were similar to the awesome Scissor Sisters (who REALLY need to release some new material soon! NB – new album in the works, though the little-known drummer, Paddy, left late 2008 and before SS premiered new demo material) and I came across a Swedish group called ‘The Ark’.

Some of their music is a little weird/kitsch in my opinion, however I really do like what I’ve heard of it so far.

Unfortunately, obtaining the CDs in this country seem to be very niche and therefore very expensive (e.g. £30 on Play Trade!) , however Last.fm do carry the full track for many of their songs, so it is easy to stream/listen online instead.

Here’s what Last.fm / Wikipedia has to say about the group:

The Ark is a glam rock band from Sweden. The band was formed in 1991 by Ola Salo, Jepson, and Lasse “Leari” Ljungberg. Martin Axén joined the band in 1997, and Sylvester Schlegel in ‘99. Jens Andersson was the last one to officially join, in October 2006. Jens is a familiar face from many The Ark gigs, as he has played the keyboard with the band for several years. Their lyrics are mostly written by singer Ola Salo, and many of them are controversial, especially the earlier ones. For example, the 2002 single ‘Father Of A Son’ is about homosexuals’ right to have children. The band tour Scandinavia, Germany and Italy regularly and were one of the support acts to The Darkness on their 2006 UK tour. The Ark participated in, and won, the Swedish Melodifestivalen 2007 with the song “The Worrying Kind”, written by Ola Salo. The song was also Sweden’s Eurovision 2007 entry and is included on their fourth album, Prayer For The Weekend.

Members:

* Ola Salo (lead singer)
* Mikael Jepson (guitar)
* Martin Axén (guitar)
* Lasse Ljungberg (bass)
* Sylvester Schlegel (drums)
* Jens Andersson (keyboard)

So far they have released four studio albums and an EP:

* Racing with the Rabbits – 1996
* We Are The Ark – 2000
* In Lust We Trust – 2002
* State of the Ark – 2004
* Prayer For The Weekend – 2007

Eurovision Song Contest 2007 Final – Helsinki
Entry for Sweden

Performer: The Ark
Song title: The Worrying Kind

Sang in Position: 12
Final Position: 18
Total Points: 51

Below are a few of the songs that I came across and liked the sound of…

‘One Of Us Is Gonna Die Young’ [cheerful title there!!]

‘The Worrying Kind’

‘It Takes A Fool To Remain Sane’