My New Imaginary Boyfriend

I have so many, but I think my new one has the best name out of all my other imaginary boyfriends. His name is Kurt Vile--and yeah, that's exactly what's stamped on his birth certificate. Immediately I am reminded of the Smucker's motto: With a name like Kurt Vile, he has to be good.

Vile, an on-hiatus member of Philadelphia's War on Drugs has recently released his first sonic collage entitled Constant Hitmaker/God Is Saying This to You (Woodsist/Mexican Summer), and upon hearing it, the album instantly became a necessity for those tranquil summer nights when I'm not in a hurry to get anywhere fast.



These simple songs are fever dreams steeped in nostalgia for dusty highways and sunlit backyard parties. We find Kurt Tom-Pettying it up in a folksy, howling reverie on the opening stomper "Freeway" over an easy driving beat:




Constant Hitmaker is peppered with sound effects that alternate between psychedelically bleary and music box-pretty. You know when you dream, how people converse in cavernous, reverbed tones; words hazy and barely audible but hypnotizing nonetheless? Kurt's voice is that: straight out of a REM sleep fantasy. Add finger picking, dog-eared Philosophy textbooks, blue collar affinities, a bedroom shrine to the Holy Trinity of Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Bob Seger and marathon lo-fi home recording sessions, and you're picking up what Constant Hitmaker is laying down.

Kurt is playing with fellow Woodsist dwellers Woods at Bottom of the Hill on August 30. Once I've lived it, I'll let you know what it's like on the other side.