COVER STORY

Kurt Vile

The prodigious guitar hero cleans up his act, but he ain't your savior.

by Patrick Rapa

Published: Mar 2, 2011

Photos by Neal Santos

"I know this record has broader appeal, and if that means I'm pissing some people off who thought I was, like, their lo-fi savior or something, I don't know ... " Kurt Vile lets the thought trail off. He's sitting on a short stone wall around the corner from his NoLibs trinity, smoking a cigarette and paying no mind to the quickening pace of an afternoon rain shower.

The lo-fi gripe is particularly vexing. "It just doesn't make any sense. If you want to have a musical career, you keep getting better," he reasons. "What, am I gonna make this sound shitty?"

His new album, Smoke Ring For My Halo, is due out next week on Matador. Where some of his earlier releases reveled in their mysterious, overcast sound, this new one's noticeably crisper, with a few more mellow moments. Instead of charging out of the gate with a big rock number — as he did on his 2008 breakthrough, Constant Hitmaker, and his 2009 Matador debut, Childish Prodigy — Halo opens with the blissful and textured "Baby's Arms." The benefits of proper studio recording are all over this song: articulated acoustic guitar, beatific female backing vocals, a lone tambourine chiming in from another galaxy.

"The album's not even out yet, and once it leaked some people just gave a review after hearing it twice and said, 'Oh, he just has these personal lyrics and there's no hooks, and it's totally clean, and the dirtiness was part of his charm.'" Vile sounds a little pissed, a little exasperated, but mostly his usual philosophical self. "Did Bob Dylan have hooks? I don't know. What is a hook, exactly?"

If a hook is some sticky guitar lick you hear long after the song is over, or a lyric you find yourself singing in your downtime, then Halo's got hooks. "Puppet to the Man" is Exhibit A, a desperate and bluesy rocker that builds a bridge out of a murmur and digs into the listener with quick, bleak lyrics. "This one goes out to all those who want the rat to survive," he sings with a swagger, his voice reverberating as if off canyon walls. "Of course by this I am alluding I want him to die."

Vile's an upbeat guy — and he's quick to say life is really good right now — but he does agree that Halo's got a cynical undercurrent. See lines like "Society is my friend, it makes me lie down in a cold bloodbath" and "My best friend's long gone but I got runner-ups." More than ever, Vile's getting good mileage out of his sometimes sparse lyrics, and he was pleased enough to include them with the album, a first for him.

Back in 2009, City Paper named Vile Philly Artist of the Year, but his biggest moments have come since then: His personal life has seen the birth of a daughter and, thanks to the success of Childish Prodigy, a downpayment on a house. Career-wise, he's soaring, too. He and his tight band of Violators have opened for Panda Bear, Pavement, The Black Keys and Big Star. They've played All Tomorrow's Parties and the big Matador 21 showcase; future ATP and Primavera festival gigs are booked, as is the band's first proper European tour. Vile's also sat in for eight tracks on J. Mascis' new record, and will support the Dinosaur Jr. frontman on his upcoming U.S. solo tour.

And by then the record will be out, officially. His request to the skeptic or the casual fan? Give Halo a serious shot. You'll find the hooks. "I'm an obsessive listener so that probably has something to do with it," he sums up, the rain beading up on his sweater. "Maybe with my music you have to listen a little closer."

Kurt Vile and the Violators play Fri., March 4, 7 p.m., free, AKA Records, 27 N. Second St., 215-922-3828; and Wed., March 23, 8 p.m., $21-$43, with J. Mascis, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

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