Kurt Vile, we like your style

We are going to start this review with a bold statement: Kurt Vile’s _Smoke Rings for my Halo _was the hottest album of 2011. No matter how poignant PJ Harvey’s Let England Shake was or how acclaimed the Horror’s Skying was, no-one can convince us otherwise. It was with this in mind that we headed to Koko on 21 February for the NME awards with high expectations in mind.

Vile is a chilled out motherfucker, a true troubadour. Born on the streets of Philadelphia, he has lived a hectic life up until now, originally being part of The War On Drugs followed by constant touring with his backing band The Violators. Tuneful yet sporadic, his music combines the spirited choruses of Springsteen with lo-fi leanings of Sonic Youth. But you can’t just limit the man’s genius with a couple of influences. His unique sound, helped by his hypnotising, yet engaging, care-free voice, allows you to fully appreciate the powerful imagery his lyrics conjure up.

As we walked in to the bustling venue, we heard the senile caterwaulings of a distressed busker. “The support band is terrible,” we simultaneously thought. Yet to our horror, it was the man we had been looking forward to seeing for the past two months… Vile. After a few songs, though, we were drawn in by his “I-don’t-give-a-shit” stoner attitude; an approach we found refreshing, with all the try-hards like Adele smothering the charts. His set-list drew heavily from his latest release but it was good to hear some of his older material.

One of the highlights of the night was a cover of Springsteen’s ‘Downbound Train’ which simply blew us away. We found that Kurt Vile excels at stripped-back mellow numbers. The intimacy of ‘Peeping Tom’ was a prime example with soft, soothing yet dark undertones ringing throughout the performance. There was a feeling that the lyrics were lost beneath the fuzzy reverb at the venue and not to mention his lovely flowing locks. However, he surpassed himself with standout tracks ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’ and ‘Jesus Fever’ which both blossomed into two magnificent moments. Noise regulations forced him to cut his encore short and to our dismay, he did not get the time to play ‘Society Is My Friend’, a song our drug* addled brains were aching to hear. He did reconcile this by sticking around and talking to fans afterwards.

So we came to enjoy Vile’s performance as the night progressed. He did not come off well at first but gradually we fell in love with the enormous presence of his voice and his apathetic reaction to the crowd (highlighted by his response to hecklers, “I’ve already played that song, man”). We truly admired the psychedelic ramblings of this stoner-tinged troubadour and would recommend the latest album to anyone craving a modern classic. What a man!

*Music journalism is our unspecified drug here.