Kurt Vile “Childish Prodigy” Review
Kurt Vile takes the best from a variety of worlds when creating his music. His songs are rooted in a deep sense of classic rock nostalgia (his Wikipedia page, for whatever it may be worth, lists him sounding like Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger), while keeping one foot in the fuzzed out present. He is one of the leaders of the current hazy, lo-fi resurgence that is currently rising in the indie music scene and has shown his excellent skills on multiple releases in the last few years. His latest album, the excellent Childish Prodigy, is his first Matador release, and it showcases his ability to find an excellent balance of sounds and ultimately finds Vile growing as a songwriter.
Childish Prodigy jumps all over the place over the course of its 11 songs, ranging from dreamy, strung out folk music to stomping rock and roll. The main strength of the album is the timeless sound that Vile creates, both representing new and exciting sounds while keeping an eye respectfully on the past. The more upbeat numbers start right away with the crunching guitars in “Hunchback,” a song that is as direct and commanding as anything on the disc. Vile twice ventures into burnt out psychedelia: once with the seven minute epic “Freak Train” and again to close the album with “Goodbye, Freaks.” Both songs are driving rock numbers, but are contained by swirling masses of effects. The whole album is played under a burnt soul haze, but these two tracks take that late ’60s, strung out vibe to the next level.
Everything from the titles to the production used on the tracks seem to be a direct attempt to venture back into a specific time and place. A chunk of the album is spent on mid-tempo, fuzzy dream pop numbers like “Dead Alive,” opening single”Overnite Religion,” and “Monkey.” These songs, especially “Overnite Religion,” remain as strong as the more upbeat numbers by using the tension from the overlapping tracks to create a constant sense that the music is about to fall of the tracks. However Vile never allows the songs to leave his grasp and these songs seem to be a direct link from his previous recordings done heavily in a DIY fashion.
There isn’t the instant gratification of the more raucous tracks like “Hunchback,” nor the more intimate beauty of some of his acoustic numbers, but these tracks are songs that very few artists can do right, and Kurt Vile has proven himself again to be one of the best. Vile flexes his inner Neil Young on late album tracks like “Heart Attack,” “Amplifier” and “Inside Looking Out.” These songs, especially on an album that starts out with some heavier songs, are poignant and show a side of Vile that I hope we will see more of in the future. The vocals and guitars are more clear and rely less on effects to move the sound forward.
With Childish Prodigy, Vile has made a step to reaching a bigger audience. His last few releases, especially the excellent Constant Hitmaker, showed exceptional promise, but the excellent songs on Childish Prodigy, combined with the muscle and reputation of Matador, should ensure that this album will at least be heard by a larger number of people—exposure that is well-deserved, and long overdue.
