live: Kurt Vile tomorrow @ Silent Barn

"Bigger Than A Humpback Whale"
(photo by c89)
By now there shouldn't be much need to talk up Kurt Vile from Philly, but I'll do it anyway, as he's back in Brooklyn this weekend for another show with Gary War at the Silent Barn. (Ok, technically it's Queens, but whatever.) At this point its obvious to anyone paying attention that Vile's got some Ryan Adams strength prolific-ness in his blood, as if songs ooze out of him, all sludgy and hypnotic, in some preternatural way. Considering all the mediocre, highly conceptual indie rock and breakneck fuzz, it's scary that Vile is able to consistently deliver such seemingly carefree records, blending the American bar folk of Tom Petty with the mesmerizing noize of Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. While God Is Saying This To You and Constant Hitmaker have been garnering most of the buzz, his Kurt Vile & the Violator's release, The Hunchback EP, is as good, if not better than his folk leanings, proving that Vile really knows how to let loose. If Constant Hitmaker is the sound of a Sunday drive through a canyon, then The Hunchback is that same drive on PCP while being chased by amphetamine fueled Hells Angels and Cops looking to bust some heads; paranoid, intoxicating full-throttle stoner rock of the finest sort. Only question is when will Vile roundup the Violator's and take them on the road.

Kurt Vile & the Violators- The Hunchback

mp3: Kurt Vile & the Violators "Hunchback"

"Big As A Humpback Whale"
Kurt Vile's been making a lot of noise lately on the strength of a few solid vinyl only EP's and some CD-Rs. His Mexican Summer debut, God Is Saying This To You, is all but sold out, unless you know the right place to go, which, apparently I did, as the Academy Annex had one this afternoon. Not one to rest on his budding laurels, Vile also recently released The Hunchback EP with his in-your-face rock group Kurt Vile & the Violaters, which, like many of his collaborations and configurations, features Adam Granduciel of The War on Drugs. Playing the bi-polar opposite to Vile's gauzy bedroom folk, the Violators kick out the druggy jams, as if they were the house band for a members-only bar located in the mirth of a sewage swamped basement of a warehouse in the god forsaken wasteland of South Philly. If I had known better I would've placed my order with Richie Records, the label behind the product, who, for $16 instead of the normal $13, will throw in "throw in a copy of Kurt's out of print split vinyl single w/ the Beat Jams, containing the tunes "Freeway in Mind" and "Everyone is Talkin'" from 2007."

Buy from Richie Records.

Kurt Vile will hit NY this Friday for a show with US Girls and Gary War at the Silent Barn in Ridgewood, Queens. I will be there. You should too.

Kurt Vile & the Violators- The Hunchback