Swede Smell of Success

Ah, to be young and in love--with pop music.

When singer Nina Persson and keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson of the Swedish band the Cardigans discuss their craft, passion fills the air. The group, which performs at sold-out shows tonight and Friday at the El Rey Theatre, takes its job seriously.

“For me, being called kitsch is the worst thing we could be accused of,” says the soft-spoken Persson, addressing a misconception about the group’s goals that’s so widespread it even appears in the record company’s official band biography.

“We feel very sincere about what we do. We are burning with music,” Persson reaffirms.

Refreshingly, though, the Cardigans carry that torch with a light hand. Their second U.S. album, “First Band on the Moon,” was certified gold (sales of 500,000) earlier this month, having been propelled by the breezy MTV favorite “Lovefool.” The album is full of sweet melodies and quirky but elegant arrangements centered on Persson’s dreamy, wafer-thin vocals.

The overall effect is that of neo-lounge pop with a classic, sophisticated edge--which may explain why the Cardigans have been compared to Burt Bacharach--though Persson claims that the band members have never been big fans of the revered tunesmith.

According to Johansson, the one source of inspiration shared by the Cardigans--who also include guitarist and principal songwriter Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson and drummer Bengt Lagerburg--is the music they heard on Swedish children’s television while growing up, which was then provided by the country’s top jazz artists.

Beyond that, Johansson says, the members--all in their early 20s--have diverse influences, ranging from the seminal Swedish pop group ABBA to ‘80s Brit-pop bands such as the Smiths and Depeche Mode to the heavy metal sounds that Svensson and Sveningsson favored as adolescents. That explains why there are versions of Black Sabbath tunes on both “First Band on the Moon” and its 1995 predecessor, “Life.”

Svensson and Sveningsson had both played in hard-rock bands, in fact, before forming the Cardigans in 1992, in the small town of Jonkoping. By the end of 1993, they had recruited Sveningsson’s school friends Persson and Johansson as well as Lagerburg. It was the first band for all three, making the current success seem slightly unreal.

“We had our sights set on just putting on a show in our hometown,” Persson says, sitting with Johansson in a conference room in their record company’s midtown Manhattan offices. “We didn’t dare to dream about America. I mean, how can you do that when you never even dreamed of being musicians?”

The Cardigans’ future brightened when the group hooked up with Swedish producer Tore Johansson, whom Persson refers to as “the sixth Cardigan.” Johansson invited the neophyte musicians to his 24-track studio and introduced them to the vintage instruments that eventually allowed them to define their wistful, nostalgic sound.

In 1994, the Cardigans released a debut album, “Emmerdale,” which was received with enthusiasm in their native country. The following year they released “Life,” which was picked up by the American label Minty Fresh. A deal with Mercury Records followed, and last September “First Band on the Moon” was met with rave reviews.

“I think America is one of the countries where people understand best what we’re about,” Persson muses. “Maybe that’s partly because ‘First Band on the Moon’ is our first big album here. In Europe, ‘Life’ was a big success, and that album was less personal. Also, of course, we have become better musicians and songwriters.”

* BE THERE

The Cardigans and Papas Fritas play tonight and Friday at the the El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., 8 p.m. Both shows are sold out. (213) 936-4790.