Kurt Vile plays slow, murky, and sloppy rock. His backing band, the Violators, looks like a gang of b-listed stand-up comedians. They seem weird and awkward. But Vile is no slouch. Neither are the guys in his band, for that matter. People (well, music critics) have been paying a lot more attention to the Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter since his performances at SXSW last March, and in each profile he’s betrayed some hype-savvy above and beyond your run-of-the-mill DIY nose-picker.

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The new Sonic Youth album, The Eternal, leaked this week. Yesterday, our own Aaron Leitko got heartfelt and nostalgic about actually paying for it and listening to it via Matador’s pretty sweet buy-early program.

Full Disclosure: I have nothing to say about the album. I have not heard the album. I don’t want the crummy leak and I’m too broke to spring for the advanced payment plan. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been tempted to just download thing. The most interesting content so far has been the blog comments after the leak and after the Web Sheriff busts them. It’s like a cop busting a college dorm. Everyone screams Oh Shit and scatters. Then the stupid sense of entitlement sets in. And then really stoopid anger blossoms.

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