Kurt Vile The Lexington, London 15/12/09
4/5
By: Steve Rose
At twenty-nine years of age, skronky singer-songwriter Kurt Vile has written nothing that could be accurately described as ‘a hit’. Neither could his song writing style be described as anything but the antithesis of ‘constant’ – a smorgasbord, of seemingly throwaway lo-fi, folk jams, moderate rock and tie-die drones his back catalogue is (albeit in an affable Velvet Underground and Stooges worship kind of way).
With album number three, Childish Prodigy, being picked up by the independent monolith with the most pristine roster in the world right now; Matador, our noise making, plaid shirt wearing, ‘constant hitmaker’ and Philadelphia resident, Kurt Vile has found himself with a newfound international fan base and a newly acquired level of indie-rock credibility.
Today, Vile and his Violators’ first trip to the UK since coming as Secretly Canadian’s wagon wheel blues act The War On Drugs, sees The Lexington busy but not ‘full as an egg’. The crowd eagerly wait after an exceedingly average support act, for these Phillies to meander through a swelling sonic representation of Childish Prodigy, The Hunchback Ep and Constant Hitmaker. Despite the feeling that today may be a little bit of a press day, with avid, aspiring journo’s making mental notes left, right and centre (who am I to talk?) the audience appear at least slightly mesmerized, before the second half of his set breaks down to a acoustic and harmonica based early material and requests session. During this hour or so, on a particularly bitter Tuesday evening, the far from vile Kurt, the focus of our attention’s banter, remains charming, sincere and softly spoken.
Kurt Vile truly is a childish prodigy, somehow seeming older than his years, and younger than he looks at the same time. He’s neither your typical singer songwriter nor some trendy no-style style, no-wave party band (whatever the f**k that means anyway). But he is one of the best, yet difficult to describe, alternative rock acts that have been thrown into the limelight by Chris Lombardi and Gerard Cosley’s sonic leviathan, which previously brought to us the quirky genius of Pavement and Yo La Tengo, the “quintessential critics' bands”. Here’s to another?
Artists in this article: Kurt Vile
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