First Aid Kit, "The lion's roar"

Let me start the review of this wonderful band consisting of two young sisters from Sweden by saying that I haven't as utterly enjoyed a Swedish country act as this for, basically, ever. They're darn good at what they're doing.

Even if you don't like this act, you'd be mad not to appreciate the fact that they're putting country music firmly where it belongs, in the charts, here in Sweden.

Anyway, what you get is a band with a tune that goes "I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June..." and this sums the band up pretty well to some extent, cos they got that 70's country feeling to it that Emmylou Harris brought us way back when before I was even born.

Theese girls aren't satisfied with sounding as Emmylou, though, they bring their own flavour to the stew. You get some of the hippie music we all are ambigious to, including some hippie flutes that actually do the job and don't dominate it. You also get some 60's country, as well as some pure Scandinavian ingredients. For some reason, I get to think of Norwegian singer Ane Brun. I could well see First Aid Kit breaking into the charts in Norway, perhaps easier than in Sweden, as Norwegians appreciate this music higher than us Swedes. (For that matter, I can see First Aid Kit breaking into the charts everywhere, they're that good!)

At the start, I thought their lyrics were a bit too naive and bland, but the more I listen to it, the more I think they reveal a splendid youtful playfulness that is way too often abscent from contemporary music. This is a band of two young sisters singing harmonies and with lyrics that actually reflect their age. In the tune Blue, they have a verse where they rhyme two times on "you" and then "blue" and "twenty two", but it doesn't matter. As I said, it's a playfulness fitting to their age and the lyrics work well with the tunes.

Now, some may complain that the title of my blog is A Swede on American culture and this band is not American. That's just ridiculous. This band sounds a lot like the American music we all love and had they been an American band, they would have been all over the bleedin place. They're that good. It's about time us Swedes show you Americans that not all Swedish music is premanufactured disco garbage, but we can produce some fine stuff too!

Buy this record and support a young band knocking out some of the finest retro country music I've ever heard.

And oh, there's actually a bit pop thrown in for good measure too!

The best Swedish country band ever naturally gets 100% in rate of satisfaction!