Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring for My Halo

Label: Matador

Prince of dudes Kurt Vile is growing up fast. His second Matador album is—well, let's not say "mature," but it is a definitively refined version of the affectingly unkempt rock he's been turning out for the past few years: still scruffy and cigarette-raspy but mellow and honestly emotional. Smoke Ring for My Halo could be your new soundtrack to laying around in bed all day. "On Tour," a lackadaisical tune that just shuffles along without any push from Vile and his band, is one part romantic, one part optimism and one part brilliant indolence. "Puppet to the Man" is a slacker resistance anthem, a street-rock cousin to Spacemen 3's "Revolution" in a way, and a drop-dead classic song that'd give any mixtape a whoa-factor. "Runner Ups" captures everything that makes this such a great album: Vile's world-weary yet insistent vocals, the sparkling picked acoustic guitar that contrasts so well against his vocals, and an almost orchestral hum of electric guitar filling out the background.