Kurt Vile- Childish Prodigy

Kurt Vile- Childish Prodigy
7/10

Kurt Vile has an apt name, his rich tapestry of work punctuated by spitting angst spoken word poetry amidst rolling waves of thunderous drums and great grungy/shoegazey guitar strums has a menacing, almost uncouth tone. But his hazy seasonal drones feed feeling and good intent into his work, and it’s quietly captivating. His second record Childish Prodigy finds him branching out on expansive, experimental notes, weaving both dulcet and antagonising tones into his rough and ragged lo-fi folk rock. Encompassing occasional elements of Dylan’s delivery and subtlety and Reatard’s excitability and expressionism with the psyched reverie of an underground bedroom-producer, Vile’s stylistic scope is definitely interesting. The swimming reverb emulates the voices of a psychotic cult choir as they hack their catchphrases into trees; the bark splintering away like the eerie accompaniment that is Vile’s otherworldly noise. At once soothing and discomforting, familiar and inhuman, classic and ahead of its time, Childish Prodigy is undeniably inventive but can drag if you concentrate on it; it’s definitely more of a background burner.
Sarah

Out October 12 on Matador

 

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Album, Reviews
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