IN REVIEW: Car Seat Headrest - "Teens of Denial"

-

After releasing a deluge of albums on Bandcamp (ten, plus a compilation and an EP between 2010 and 2014), Car Seat Headrest (ostensibly a solo project by Will Toledo) signed to heavyweight indie label Matador in 2015. Following the introductory compilation Teens of Style, Teens of Denial marks the official label debut for the band. Accordingly, it features fuller compositions and more instrumentation. Given his previous recorded output, it's not surprising to hear the wealth of ideas put forth on Teens of Denial; stretching just past the 70-minute mark, the lo-fi DIY approach is augmented with tension, bombast and epic appeal (8 of 12 tracks go past the five minute mark, including one over ten). Overall, it's a supersized throwback to the '90s indie scene that was flourishing while Toledo was a toddler, a record full of fuzzed-out nostalgia, sharp wit and ragged glory.

May 20, 2016 • Matador
Highlights Fill in the Blank • Vincent • Cosmic Hero

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Year in Rock 2023: Honorable Mentions

-
Image
  Well, well, well. If it isn't Sound Bites temporarily coming back to life, suspiciously close to the end of the year. That must only mean one thing; well, aside from the author being supremely lazy and neglectful to his blog yet again. Yes, dear reader, it's time for Year in Rock. Look, I'm out of excuses as to why I can turn from cranking out content at a record pace to a full year of radio silence; suffice to say, this blog certainly isn't a priority in my life (which I have been rebuilding since my last post, but that's all personal stuff I have no desire to steal bandwidth from more deserving and important things). Sound Bites will continue to exist as a mausoleum for my personal music tastes, but it's not pivoting into self-help territory, nor is it roaring back to full-time status. I'll check in periodically, so as to say when there's something worth sharing. It might be once a year, it might be more frequently, but I definitely won't be gett
Read more

IN REVIEW: Hey Rosetta! - "Second Sight"

-
Image
There's a telling lyrical passage that stuck out to me upon listening to Newfoundland-based indie stalwarts Hey Rosetta's third full-length LP. During the uplifting, depression-battling anthem Cathedral Bells , singer Tim Baker exclaims, "the road is lit and I'm going home". It comes near the tail end of the album's most thrilling section of songs, during which the seven-piece (plus additional hands on deck for extra orchestration) take a formidable musical journey through several genres and moods. After exploring the arena-sized farthest reaches of Coldplay, the worldly rhythms of Vampire Weekend and the zealous, choral flourishes of Arcade Fire among others, it's the comfort of home that drives the group down the album's (pun intended, I suppose) home stretch. Long before we get to that point, however, we're treated to some of the band's most interesting material to date. The album starts with current single Soft Offering (for the Oft Suff
Read more