Entrenched in the massive indie folk revival of the past decade is the glaring fact that most of that music harkens directly back to the singer-songwriter soft rock of the 70s (I’m looking at you, Bon Iver). Somewhere along the way, Dashboard Confessional albums led to the greatest rekindling of Seals & Crofts sounds since, well, Seals & Crofts. Fleet Foxes be damned, indie folk bands kept popping up like weeds in need of nuclear strength weed killers. But when one guy with one guitar is not only the talk of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, but of the entire 21st anniversary festival of one of independent music’s most important labels (Matador), one tends to sit up and take notice.

On Smoke Ring for My Halo, Vile manages to channel both the DYI attitude of 80s folk punk and the hyper-talented guitar dexterity of 90s alternative rock. (I know, I said “alternative rock”. One day there will be a better term that encapsulates both Stone Gossard and Jay Mascis, I swear.) One spin of “Jesus Fever”, and you know Vile is not just another sensitive indie weed blowing in the soft, buzz band breeze. He is real and he is refreshing, and Smoke Ring is his weed killer.