Every so often a songwriter emerges who captures something about the city he calls home. Elliot Smith was as Portland as fixies and strollers. There is something free and unmistakably flyover about Omaha, Nebraska’s Conor Oberst. Kurt Vile — who finished a tour to support his latest record (and first release on Matador Records), Childish Prodigy, at the Black Cat on Thursday — is making his claim as a lo-fi laureate of Philadelphia.

Mr. Vile — who boasts one of the greatest names in rock — played two shows, in a sense. For the majority of an extended set for the packed backstage, Vile was joined by two members of his better-known band, The War on Drugs, as well as guitar-wizard Jesse Turbo. Much like The War on Drugs, Kurt Vile and the Violators is distinguished by a folk-drone sound, heavy on repetitive guitar rhythms drenched in chorus pedal. For both the Violators and The War on Drugs, drummer Kyle Lloyd drives the heavy rhythm on his distinctive kit, leaning heavily on the toms primarily using a pair of hefty mallets. (Lloyd doesn’t use a high-hat at all.) Playing with the Violators, Kurt Vile strays into sonic guitar-tech territory, with Adam Granduciel lending rhythm and Jesse Turbo on hand for stray sounds, pedal effects, held notes, and other Sonic Youth-y touches. “Could I get more echo on my harmonica?” Turbo asked toward the end of the set.