Car Seat Headrest return to their roots on “The Scholars”
Car Seat Headrest has made a name for themselves by creating songs for hip college kids that exclusively smoke cigarettes and are intrinsically sad (me). You may recognize them from 2011’s Twin Fantasy, an album that ultimately became what put their names on the map, especially with “Sober To Death,” a song that has quite unfortunately become TikTok-ified. There’s been plenty of albums between then and now, but I’ll admit that the announcement of The Scholars was a bit of a shock considering what the band and lead singer Will Toledo have gone through the last few years.
Back in 2022, Toledo caught COVID-19 while on tour, and it was a sort of beginning of the end. He had continued to try to perform while sick, but only damaged his body more and ended up cancelling many dates of the tour, including one in my hometown. Though this was now three years ago, the time has flown and it still feels fresh in my mind. The Scholars feels like a triumphant recovery that celebrates health and the joy of music. Though the band’s tour dates are limited to ensure everyone stays happy & healthy, so I’m grateful that they’ve given us new songs to obsess over.
The album is a short nine songs, but don’t let that fool you: The runtime for this bad boy is an hour and eleven minutes, with many of the songs spanning from eight to nineteen minutes. It opens with “CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You),” a jazzy intro that floats into Toledo singing in Spanish and French. The thing about The Scholars is that it feels so quintessentially Car Seat Headrest. It isn’t experimental in ways that previous albums have been, and in fact, it almost feels like a return to their roots.
“Signs point in every direction, advertising a one-night heaven / Got no clue what's driving us / Blind as hell and burning up with your love.”
The band delivers song after song that hits home with the garage-rockiness we know them so well for, a standout being “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man).” They’ve always been able to catch the lightning of a rock song that is so extraordinarily fun. Toledo’s voice in combination with raspy and distorted guitars fills me with an overwhelming sense of joy that I first discovered when listening to “Bodys” on Twin Fantasy.
“Gethsemane” slows things down a bit from the fast paced first half of the album. The song holds a note of melancholy even though it picks up speed towards the end, it seems to capture a certain loneliness that the band has also become expert as portraying. The song feels so full with instrumentals, and yet Toledo’s voice brings a haunting energy alongside lyrics that force you to wonder what the hell he’s talking about and truly think about it.
The album as a whole is cohesive and feels like a comforting hug from the band, reminding you that they’re okay and that they’re still here. The Scholars is a study on life and love, as all of their albums are, which only makes me want to reemphasize that this is a return to their roots.
