Kurt Vile Is The Unsung Mayor Of Minutiae In ‘Loading Zones’
Far too many times, when someone is attempting to convey a big, bold idea; it can get bogged down in the details, the little things, the minutiae. On the flip side, it can articulate so much to see a simple idea fleshed out with that same level of effortlessly-seeming detail.
Kurt Vile is no stranger to making his songs feel close to ground level, while allowing the details and characters to speak for themselves. Rarely needing to put extra mustard on a hoagie that tastes great on its own.
It’s here we find Vile at his laid back best. In the music video for ‘Loading Zones’ off his 2018 album, Bottle It In.
The idea, again, is simple. Kurt is driving around Philly, double parking, using loading zones, and running a few small errands. All the while, he is being tailed by two cops (played by actors Kevin Corrigan & Matt Korvette) who are attempting to catch him in the act and give him a ticket.
But it’s the details that really make this video a true winner. At each turn, Kurt plays his every move like a man confident to the highest degree that this is his town. That he can park where he wants and mess around with the cops, because he’s lived here for his entire life and the local karma is just too strong in his favor.
Director Drew Saracco also does a great job at capturing that laid back, driving-through-my-town vibe by having the video set in a bright, late-morning glow. But with barely any people around. Kurt walks right into a laundromat and pulls a shirt out of the dryer. There’s nobody in the place, at the counter, nothing.
While we see plenty of local Philly personalities in the final section of the video, featuring Kurt going off on his guitar; in the first half of the video we only get sporadic glimpses as Kurt drives past a lone man playing handball, for example. During the main narrative, Saracco gets a lot out of exploiting the minutiae of running out for a few quick errands.
There’s also a wry Bugs Bunny influence going on here. Every time the local cops think they have Kurt Vile cornered, he calmly slips from their grasp. A great example is when Kevin Corrigan hands him a ticket and Kurt just writes his autograph along the entire length of the ticket with the note, “To my biggest fan,” before driving away.
Again, there’s nothing earth shattering going on here. But by keeping things simple and in line with Kurt’s effortless repping of Philly and letting the city and atmosphere speak for itself, what we end up with is a music video that evokes a whole lot of character, while keeping a short & sweet narrative that allows for those great details to be highlighted instead of overshadowed.
If you’ve never given Kurt Vile a good look yet, ‘Loading Zones’ is a great place to start that journey and get a great idea of how he is able to seamlessly craft songs that allow for the minutiae to be as robust as the actual message.
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