KURT VILE - CHILDISH PRODIGY

You know how this goes:

you're being all cool and stuff and trying to listen to the new Times New Viking album before it comes out because you have a review for the Penguin due the next day, but your copy still hasn't shown up in the mail. What the hell? you wonder...so you go on Lala.com and start listening to the tracks to right this review. Before you know it, you can only hear each song once and you're left with only 30 second samples. So while basing an album review on 30 second samples of songs you kinda know, you start getting distracted. Then you see on Lala "If you like blah blah blah" and etc. and you just start clicking through albums. You find an album by this guy with long hair, but for some reason, you hate him. You don't even have to hear his music. You just seem him, some young kid with long hair, and think "You, my friend, SUCK." But, you listen to the songs and enjoy them. You feel kinda guilty, but life happens, you're roommate moves out, you buy a record player, and time goes on.

FLASH FORWARD to 2010!!! ------------->>>>>>>>>

You're just hanging out, relaxing on spring break. You do some bopping around on the intranets and remember good friend Gary (Young) Kriston's http://solidlittlerockjams.blogspot.com and you pilfer through the reviews. You find one about this Kurt Vile guy and you decide "Well, other than "Raditude" and Incubus, Gary's usually spot on with music" and you start looking around for albums. The first one you find is this guy's most recent, and that was the one I listened to back in October.

And how did I feel?

Conflicted.

Full of swimmer's ear.

Spitting soup into snail shells.

Buying a car.

Wearing peanuts.

Watching both Twilight films.

And that was my spring break, BUT NOW BACK TO THE REVIEWWWWSSSS!!!!

But here I am, enjoying this album by this guy that I hate. Man does he write some sweet jams. Kind of an even split between full band hooplah and bedroom acoustic pop thats just fantastic. The band stuff is cool, but the bedroom stuff always has a distinct feel that he pulls of well.

The main reason why I'm all crazy about this is because of tracks 7-8, "Heart Attack" and "Amplifier". "Heart Attack" is just a bedroom guitar ditty that segues into "Amplifier" which starts quite similar, but then the whole band falls in and, oh boy, there's a trumpet that blows in and then you just fall over and say "damn". there's a song after, and then it ends.

thats the album.

and its good.

I'd say check it out. It's got the NM "Thumbs up and away" stamp of approval.

OVERALL RATING - FLYING CACTUS!
KEY TRACKS - "Amplifier", "Heart Attack", "Freak Train".