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There was a time when I was getting tired of Kurt Vile's shtick. To be clear, he does have a shtick, and he utterly refuses to deviate from that shtick. But I think at this point, the shtick has been deployed so consistently and so mercilessly that I've come full circle, and fully accept it for what it is. And so find me, the inconsistent Kurt Vile fan, jamming for weeks on the new album, (watch my moves).
The metaphor I've been thinking about in regards to Kurt Vile recently is this: imagine you have a friend who's never left his hometown, who is genial and friendly, who you've been friends with for a while, and who never, ever changes. You might actually have this friend in real life. Now imagine that every Thursday night, you go over to his house, where you go out into his backyard shed and smoke pot and have the same conversations, week in and week out. There might be some Thursday nights when you grow tired of this life, and these particular conversations, and this particular drug. You might occasionally find yourself yearning to explore something new. And yet, every Thursday night, like clockwork, you find yourself in that same shed, smoking the same drugs, talking about the same ol' shit you always talk about.
There's comfort in knowing that that friend is always going to be there. Life itself is moving a hundred thousand miles an hour on a planet that is slowly burning into ashes, and so why wouldn't you seek comfort in stagnation? It makes sense, logically. Plus, it's not like this friend isn't charming in his own weird way. Like, he just says stuff sometimes that are slightly left-of-center, and you can't help but chuckle a little bit. Maybe that's why you keep coming back, I dunno. There's comfort, but there's also a general sense of—this seems familiar, but maybe it isn't.
That's what I get out of Kurt Vile these days, especially in this fantastic new album. It's long, it's hazy, it's lackadaisical to the point of parody, but man, it's just a real nice sound to keep returning to. I "get" the shtick, but I also always manage to find something hanging around the corners of these tunes that each visit isn't identical. Lyrics like "See you on the other side / on the tarmac or the afterlife" are just straight up funny. Lyrics like "Prolly gonna be another long song" clue me in on the fact that the man is self-aware as fuck.
The conclusion I've reached during my time with (watch my moves) is that Kurt Vile's music is extremely my shit, and if I ever get cranky, then it's only because I'm annoyed with myself and with life outside that backyard shed. Kurt Vile can hang around forever, doing the same shit he always does. In fact, I'd prefer it.
GRADE: 4 pukes out of 5
(+1.5 from previous review)
(watch my moves) by Kurt Vile
Released: April 15, 2022
Follow-up to: Speed, Sound, Lonely KV EP, Week 99
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