I have certainly been pretty taken by Kurt Vile (that is his real name) and his wonderful world of Lo Fi, garage rock recently. Childish Prodigy, Vile's debut on Matador which claims a higher fidelity than his last album on the cult American Indie label 'Woodsist' has a lot more to it than a lot of the general 'Lo-Fi' albums that are coming out, mainly because Vile adds a sense of nostalgia to a lot of his songs, a hark back to blues inspired rock which, when blended in with his echoed vocals and strange drums beats makes for a really interesting listen.
The album's opener 'Hunchback' is a perfect place for anyone new to his music to start, with a catchy pop hook delved somewhere deep in the chorus and a beefy riff running through out the song caught me straight away and enticed me to listen to what else the album had to offer. What it does in fact offer is a diverse range of tracks that sound as if they were straight out of the 70's rock/ psychedelic scene with songs such as the seven minute 'Freak Train' and it's guitar / sax solo's but played intimately as if you were watching him play live straight in front of you.
Vile has obviously spent a long time experimenting with rudimentary recording techniques and the outcome is a surprisingly refreshing album that I haven't stopped listening to since I first picked it up.
Vile will be playing a rare one off show at the Lexington on the 15th of December, highly recommended.
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