Thursday, June 19, 2008

Quick Hitters:: The First Aid Kit

Well, despite what the velvety layer of thick fog that greeted us here in Halifax this morning would have you believe, the official start of summer is but mere days away. And of course with summer's arrival, everyone looks for those sunny, summery tunes to help them get out and soak out some of those hard-earned rays. Let me help you in that pursuit by introducing the First Aid Kit and their excellent EP Rocket Summer.

There may be other musical First Aid Kits out there in cyber space, but the one I'm referring to is a Halifax-based five-piece that plays some of the catchiest music you'll find here or anywhere else. Matt Davidson, Conor Hancey, Robin Darryl Smith, Craig Koziar, and Amy Bollivar grew up "scattered across Ontario, Nova Scotia and California", but lucky for those of us in Haltown, they've chosen to settle here. When they eventually blow up and go bigtime (or whatever passes for that in today's nutty music biz), we can all nod knowingly as say "yes, we knew they were excellent all along".

And excellent indeed are the songs on Rocket Summer, layered with a thick dual-guitar attack, driving drums, piano, synths, and the kind of hooks your mother would shout along to (I don't exactly know what that means, but the songs are infectious, that's the point I'm awkwardly trying to make there). The swagger and pulse of the title track opens up the EP, and if the swooning "ooooh-oooooh's" don't get you then the chaotic piano-guiatar-snyth clash on the outro will. I've had this one on repeat for a few days, kind of addictive. Sleepwalk lures you in with a sweet bassline and then seals the deal with siren synths and lines like "I've been hearing you talk jive baby", before closing with an uptempo indie-pop flourish. The sing-along harmonies of Long Distance Runners make me want to hit the road and run with Gump-like abandon.

Here's the point, if you're looking for musical company for your summer days, I humbly suggest you give the First Aid Kit a go. I hear they have a new EP in the works that might act as the soundtrack for your fall, but for now you can download the songs from Rocket Summer on the band's myspace.

MP3::

The First Aid Kit - Rocket Summer








The First Aid Kit - Splitting Images







Posted at 1:18 PM by naedoo :: 2 comments

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At 11:11 PM, Anonymous Ronatron did sayeth:

I have to say the weather in Vancouver isn't summery at all. But after listening to First Aid Kit, it sure feels a lot warmer. These kids sure know how to rock and I bet they put on a great live show too.

 

At 11:07 PM, Anonymous marc xavier leblanc (aka bones) did sayeth:

yeah they put on a killer live show! i would highly recommend checking them out if they ever play in your neck of the woods.

marc... aka bones

 

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