Kurt Vile – “Life Like This” (Singles Going Steady))

Ed Whitelock: This song and video run the risk of falling into so many rocker’s life clichés, but Kurt Vile is, thankfully, no cowboy on a steel horse riding. Song and video mesh perfectly here, and we see the blessings and privilege of boredom in the studio as he hashes out creativity from inside a smoky shell. This is an instant stoner classic. [9/10]

Dustin Ragucos: Kurt Vile’s guitar inserts don’t tend to be memorable, especially with this song’s constant piano line, but they can be like scenery moving in a panorama. Vile’s guitar chops can feel like birds propelling into a great nothing. That or the sound of a city slicker driving his shoulder into the wall. The color in the video is fruity, yet there’s an aspect of toxicity to it. The video strangely brings back memories of that one episode of The Simpsons where Milhouse sits on the couch, wind blowing his hair, experiencing the coolness of naming himself “Thrillhouse”. It’s a fair song to put on when contemplating life while waiting for a bus that might never come. [6/10]

Steve Horowitz: Life is just a bowl of Cheerios, but I wonder what they have added to the milk? The music is catchy and captures that ’70s vibe of guitar noise that didn’t need to be loud to be psychedelic. The repetition makes one just crave more. The video illustrates the weirdness. The animation and the shots of Vile on guitar don’t quite mesh. That’s the point of being strange, like life. It’s like that, um… this. [8/10]

John Garratt: Monotone. If you bother to feature a Fender Jazzmaster in your video, then play the sucker like it was meant to be played! [5/10]

Kevin Korber: In which Kurt Vile continues his quest to become the most chill human being in existence. Kurt has always managed to be pleasant without being memorable, but there’s something…smug about how chill he is here. Maybe we don’t want to live a life like this, especially if that life entails listening to re-heated Jackson Browne leftovers. [3/10]