Photos of First Aid Kit at 2015 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, RI
Photos of First Aid Kit at Central Park SummerStage in New York, NY on July 27th, 2015
Photos of First Aid Kit at 2014 Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX
Photos of First Aid Kit at CMJ 2014 in New York, NY
QRO’s review of First Aid Kit at Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR on May 22nd, 2014
Photos of First Aid Kit at Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles, CA on October 16th, 2012
Photos of First Aid Kit at Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY on September 30th, 2012
Photos of First Aid Kit at Bush Hall in London, U.K. on December 6th, 2011
Photos of First Aid Kit at Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ on November 17th, 2011
Alt-country songstresses were all the rage – a handful of years ago. These days, the public wants their heartbroken ladies singing grand, pulsating epics. So what are cowgirls to do? Sisters Johanna & Klara Söderberg, a.k.a. Sweden’s First Aid Kit, stay true to their sound on Ruins.
Now, ‘staying true’ does mean staying similar to their prior work, like 2014’s Stay Gold (QRO review) and 2012’s The Lion’s Roar (QRO review), alt-country/folk sweetness & sorrow. But they do the style well on pieces such as the opener “Rebel Heart”, a particularly good introduction for what is to come on Ruins, the more stripped plucking of “To Live a Life”, the more traditional acoustic (with great big group finish) “Hem of Her Dress”, and strong-woman-through-it-all closer “Nothing Has To Be True”.
Like prior work, Ruins doesn’t reinvent a wheel that’s old enough not to need reinvention, and might not be as accomplished as Stay Gold. But it stays true, even today.
