Even us mixed-race music geeks love a bit of skinny, white indie trash - and it doesn't get much more skinny and white than Kurt Vile. Just seeing him hunched over his guitar with his fingerless gloves and long, face-obscuring hair is enough to misguide the inattentive listener. Don't get me wrong, though, I wouldn't chuck Kurt into the 'trash' category - in fact, Smoke Ring For My Halo is the best album I've heard this year.
Vile, who was guitarist for indie rockers The War on Drugs, has been producing solo music since 2008, but Smoke Ring has seen him shoot into the limelight with unusual velocity. Receiving an 8.4 and the coveted 'Best New Music' label from Pitchfork, as well as (almost) entirely unanimous positive reviews elsewhere can't have hindered his rise, but it's more than that. Smoke Ring has a depth of character that far surpasses any album I have heard in recent times - Vile creates and inhabits a new persona for each song, adding emotional credibility to his American drawl.
In Baby's Arms he is a naive, love-forsaken soul trying to convince himself he'll 'never ever be alone'; in Peeping Tomboy, Vile sculpts his character contrarily: 'I don't want to change, but I don't want to stay the same.', 'Now I want to go but it's a one way street with me.'. What links all his characters is an underlying sense of innocence and inexperience - Vile's music is undoubtedly endearing and heartfelt. The pinnacle of his songcraft is On Tour, a green-fuelled haze of guitar and vocals. Vile sings out 'I got it made... most of the time.' not with anguish or joy, but with deadpan accuracy. What makes the song so effective is that the rise and fall of the melody matches with the lyrical content.
This is not an album that you listen to when you want to wallow in your despair. It's not an album you listen to when you need a pick-me-up. It's an album you listen to in carefree admiration - an album you devote attention to. It's an album that will no doubt be a stoner favourite, but it's also an album that everyone (including Pitchfork) has seriously underrated.
Check out Vile on Pitchfork TV here.
Ghost Town isn't mentioned in the review but is another stand-out track from the album:
Kurt Vile - Ghost Town by maybemayest
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