{"title":"Car Seat Headrest","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCar Seat Headrest is the project of Seattle singer\/songwriter Will Barnes, also known as Will Toledo. With his introspective and raw lyrics, Car Seat Headrest has gained a dedicated following since its inception in 2010. The music blends elements of indie rock, lo-fi production, and catchy melodies to create a unique sound that resonates with listeners.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKnown for his prolific output, Toledo has released numerous albums and EPs under the Car Seat Headrest moniker. His honest and relatable songwriting explores themes of love, mental health, and self-discovery. Drawing inspiration from bands like Pavement and Guided by Voices, Car Seat Headrest's music is characterized by its confessional nature and infectious hooks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith each release, Car Seat Headrest continues to evolve their sound while staying true to their DIY roots. Their live performances are energetic and captivating, showcasing Toledo's talent as both a vocalist and guitarist. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to their music, Car Seat Headrest offers an authentic listening experience that will leave you wanting more.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"teens-of-denial","title":"Teens of Denial","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlbum of the Year 2016 No:10 \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTeens of Denial\u003c\/i\u003e is the thirteenth album in Car Seat Headrest's (aka 23-year-old Will Toledo) oeuvre, second on Matador, and first to be recorded in a proper studio with a full band and producer (Steve Fisk). On \u003ci\u003eDenial\u003c\/i\u003e, Toledo moves from bedroom pop to something approaching classic-rock grandeur and huge (if detailed and personal) narrative ambitions, with nods to the Cars, Pavement, Jonathan Richman, Wire, and William Onyeabor. By turns tender and caustic, empathetic and solipsistic, literary and vernacular, profound and profane, self-loathing and self-aggrandizing, he conjures a specifically 21st century mindset, a product of information overload, the loneliness it can foster, and the escape music can provide. At the heart of the album sits the 11:32 \u003ci\u003eBallad of the Costa Concordia\u003c\/i\u003e, which has more musical ideas than most whole albums (and at that length, it uses them all). Horns, keyboards, and elegant instrumental interludes set off art-garage moments; vivid vocal harmonies follow punk frenzy. The selfish captain of the capsized cruise liner in the Mediterranean in 2013 becomes a metaphor for struggles of the individual in society, as experienced by one hungover young man on the verge of adulthood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dHY2fqQe3AY\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bEsItsZphwQ\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50387852034379,"sku":"400660","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP | x2","offer_id":50387850920267,"sku":"1002737","price":20.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50387849642315,"sku":"400659","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Teens_of_Denial_505a58fe_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726337670"},{"product_id":"making-a-door-less-open","title":"Making A Door Less Open","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaking A Door Less Open\u003c\/i\u003e, the new album from Car Seat Headrest and the first set of brand-new songs since 2016’s \u003ci\u003eTeens Of Denial\u003c\/i\u003e, is set for release on 1st May 2020. The album will be available on vinyl and CD featuring distinct tracklists and mixes for each product.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCreated over the course of four years, \u003ci\u003eMaking a Door Less Open\u003c\/i\u003e is the result of a fruitful “collaboration” between Car Seat Headrest, led by Will Toledo, and 1 Trait Danger, a CSH electronic side project consisting of drummer Andrew Katz and Toledo’s alternate persona, “Trait.” To realize this, the band recorded the album twice: once live with guitars, drums and bass, and once in a MIDI environment using purely synthesized sounds. During the mixing process, the two approaches were gradually combined using elements of each, with additional overdubs. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this way, \u003ci\u003eMaking A Door Less Ope\u003c\/i\u003en sees Toledo embarking on new and imaginative roads to songwriting and recording, placing emphasis on the individual songs, each with its own “special energy,” rather than attempting to draw a coherent storyteller narrative through the album as he has in the past, resulting in his most dynamic and open-ended work to date.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComprised of Will Toledo, Andrew Katz (drums), Ethan Ives (guitar) and Seth Dalby (bass), Car Seat Headrest has either released 11 or three albums to date, depending on the way you look at it. A prolific songwriter, Toledo took his moniker from making early recordings in the private environment of his family’s car, releasing a dozen self-recorded and produced albums on Bandcamp and building a tight-knit following. Toledo has since gone from an empty five-seater to selling out tours and filling festival main stages. 2015’s \u003ci\u003eTeens of Style\u003c\/i\u003e was a collection of songs from his early years. The band’s proper Matador debut, \u003ci\u003eTeens of Denial\u003c\/i\u003e, followed in 2016 and catapulted them to overnight commercial success and widespread critical acclaim, as well as highlighting Toledo as a prodigious lyricist. 2018’s \u003ci\u003eTwin Fantasy\u003c\/i\u003e, an epic re-imagination of an album originally released in 2011, demonstrated newfound scale, depth and ambition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLP Tracklisting\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWeightlifters\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCan’t Cool Me Down\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHollywood\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere Must Be More Than Blood\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHymn\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeadlines\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMartin\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat’s With You Lately\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLife Worth Missing\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFamous\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCD Tracklisting\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWeightlifters\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCan’t Cool Me Down\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHollywood\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMartin\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHymn (remix)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere Must Be More Than Blood\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeadlines\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat’s With You Lately\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLife Worth Missing\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFamous\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDeadlines (Alternate Acoustic)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHollywood (Acoustic)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"Pink | LP","offer_id":50410211836235,"sku":"1089013","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50410211410251,"sku":"1089011","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50410211672395,"sku":"1089012","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/21d57a8c-eb60-4c88-8380-883b0e57e6bc_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726640246"},{"product_id":"teens-of-style","title":"Teens of Style","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis prolific artist (ne Will Toledo) comes to Matador having already crafted an 11-album catalog of staggering depth, all self-released on Bandcamp, which has gained him an obsessive following and over 25,000 downloads - all without the muscle of a manager, label, agent, or publicist - until now. Car Seat Headrest began in 2010 in Will Toledo's hometown of Leesburg, Virginia. Needing a place of solitude (and soundproofing) where he could record vocals undisturbed, a 17-year-old Toledo set up shop in the family car. Toledo's catalogue is sharp, literary, and culturally omnivorous as it touches upon youth and death, love and depression, drunken parties and 2nd century theologians. Ever surprising, his lyrical imagery ranges from playful to sexually frank to sorrowful, often within the same song.  After relocating to the Seattle suburbs in 2014, Toledo assembled a lineup with bassist Ethan Ives and drummer Andrew Katz. 'Teens of Style' is the first Car Seat Headrest album recorded with a full band, and the sound is vibrant and powerful, with a wide stylistic range. On 'Teens of Style', Toledo has taken material from the first three years of the band's existence and reworked it to generate some of the most realized arrangements to date. Drawing material from '3' (2010), 'My Back Is Killing Me Baby' (2011), and 'Monomania' (2012), 'Teens of Style' provides a concise overview of the band's many sonic and emotional facets, with the songs ranging from electronic psychedelia to punky anthems to melancholic acoustic numbers. The longest track on 'Teens of Style', 'Times to Die,' is just under seven minutes, applying breakbeat cut-ups and 'Low Rider' horns to a groove-driven neo-psych jam with lyrics about Judaism, Hinduism, and the record business. Similarly, 'Maud Gone' is a wistful 60s-inspired pop number paying homage to Yeats's unrequited love, while the intricate party track 'Los Borrachos' borrows its title from the Diego Velasquez painting. Car Seat Headrest's conceptual ambition and stunning songwriting has been apparent since its early days of laptop recording, the scale of Toledo's vision going far beyond the constricting lo-fi term.  Now on his Matador Records debut, 'Teens of Style', we witness Toledo presenting his intricate ideas with more clarity and refinement than ever, delivering an enthralling collection of songs destined for wide acclaim.LP - With Download.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50416202121547,"sku":"393632","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50416202219851,"sku":"393631","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/1cea0628-00e2-4077-8fba-a0e38a1967b3_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726698359"},{"product_id":"twin-fantasy","title":"Twin Fantasy","description":"\u003cp\u003eWill Toledo always knew he would return to \u003ci\u003eTwin Fantasy\u003c\/i\u003e. He never did complete the work. Not really. Never could square his grand ambitions against his mechanical limitations. Listen to his first attempt, recorded at nineteen on a cheap laptop, and you’ll hear what Brian Eno fondly calls “the sound of failure” - thrilling, extraordinary, and singularly compelling failure. Will’s first love, rendered in the vivid teenage viscera of stolen gin, bruised shins, and weird sex, was an event too momentous for the medium assigned to record it. On the heels of the smashing success of \u003ci\u003eTeens of Denial\u003c\/i\u003e, Car Seat Headrest releases a new version of \u003ci\u003eTwin Fantasy\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“It was never a finished work,” Will says, “and it wasn’t until last year that I figured out how to finish it.” He has, now, the benefit of a bigger budget, a full band in fine form, and endless time to tinker. According to him, it took eight months of mixing just to get the drums right. But this is no shallow second take, sanitized in studio and scrubbed of feeling. This is the album he always wanted to make. It sounds the way he always wanted it to sound. It’s been hard, stepping into the shoes of his teenage self, walking back to painful places. There are lyrics he wouldn’t write again, an especially sad song he regards as an albatross. But even as he carries the weight of that younger, wounded Will, he moves forward. He grows. He revises, gently, the songs we love so much. In the album’s final moments, in those apologies to future me’s and you’s, there is more forgiveness than fury. This, Will says, is the most vital difference between the old and the new: he no longer sees his own story as a tragedy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2CD - Second CD features the original 2011 recording of the album.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"Black LPx2","offer_id":50416928063819,"sku":"1026185","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50416928260427,"sku":"1026184","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/b10fc2ca-cf72-4373-a14e-c5bfafdc87a0_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726712560"},{"product_id":"brand-new-colony-we-looked-like-giants","title":"Brand New Colony \/ We Looked Like Giants","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis split 7” features The Beths with Pickle Darling on one side, and Car Seat Headrest on the other. Both bands are celebrating the 20th anniversary of two landmark indie-rock albums that are near and dear to them: The Postal Service’s \u003ci\u003eGive Up \u003c\/i\u003e(Sub Pop) and Death Cab for Cutie’s \u003ci\u003eTransatlanticism \u003c\/i\u003e(Barsuk).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn one A-side is New Zealand indie rockers, The Beths’ delightfully bright cover of “Brand New Colony.” The sonically brilliant reinterpretation features fellow New Zealander, producer and multi-instrumentalist Pickle Darling’s signature finger pluckings and dulcet keys.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe other A-side features alt-rock mainstay Car Seat Headrest’s propulsive guitar-driven take on Death Cab for Cutie fan favourite “We Looked Like Giants.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sub Pop","offers":[{"title":"Red 7\"","offer_id":50449004069195,"sku":"2145084","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/thebeths-carseatheadrest-splitsingle-900_afe5013a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727098405"},{"product_id":"faces-from-the-masquerade","title":"Faces From The Masquerade","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn March 28th-30th 2022, Car Seat Headrest played three consecutive sold out nights at Brooklyn Steel in New York. An air of celebration, community and showmanship was present, made all the more palpable as the shows were far from a certainty - they took place amidst a year which saw the band having to postpone or cancel a large swath of their North American tour dates due to ongoing health issues.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe three night residency is captured on \u003ci\u003eFaces From The Masquerade\u003c\/i\u003e - a double album’s worth of live performances that finds Car Seat Headrest at their most playful, exuberant and precision honed. The title alludes to the by now familiar, custom-made gas mask worn by frontman Will Toledo at shows, complete with an expressive LED display for eyes. In addition to the group’s four core members - Toledo, guitarist\/backing vocalist Ethan Ives, bassist Seth Dalby and drummer Andrew Katz - they were joined on the tour by keyboard player Ben Roth.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"Black LPx2","offer_id":50490469908811,"sku":"2147290","price":37.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/81mxomzQLFL._AC_SL1400__28a95923_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727663194"},{"product_id":"the-scholars","title":"The Scholars","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet at the fictional college campus Parnassus University, the songs on \u003cem\u003eThe Scholars\u003c\/em\u003e are populated with students and staff whose travails illuminate a loose narrative of life, death, and rebirth. Inspired by an apocryphal poem by \"Archbishop Guillermo Guadalupe del Toledo,\" and featuring character designs from Toledo’s friend, the cartoonist Cate Wurtz, the first half of the album focuses on the deep yearning and spiritual crisis of the titular Scholars. They range from the tortured and doubt-filled young playwright Beolco to Devereaux, a person born to religious conservatives who finds themselves desperate for higher guidance. The second part features a series of epics detailing the clash between the defenders of the classic texts “and the young person who doesn't care about the canon, who is going to tear all of that up, basically,” Toledo says. “And so within this one campus, there becomes a war.” From Shakespeare to Mozart to classical opera, Toledo pulled from the classics when devising the lyrics and story arc of \u003cem\u003eThe Scholars\u003c\/em\u003e, while the music draws, carefully, from classic rock story song cycles such as The Who’s Tommy and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust.  “One thing that can be a struggle with rock operas is that the individual songs kind of get sacrificed for the flow of the plot,” Toledo notes. “I didn't want to sacrifice that to make a very fluid narrative. And so this is sort of a middle ground where each song can be a character and it's like each one is coming out on center stage and they have their song and dance.” Self-produced by Toledo and recorded, for a change, mostly in analog, \u003cem\u003eThe Scholars\u003c\/em\u003e is “definitely the most bottom up of any project that we've done,” says Ives, who was urged by Toledo to take ownership of the guitar work and sound design for the album. “I've started nerding out a lot more in the last couple of years about designing sounds more deliberately, rather than just using your lucky gear and hoping for the best. It was really rewarding, being able to sculpt things a lot more specifically, and being able to layer things in more of a dense way and have more of an active design role in how things come across more than any previous album.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile \u003cem\u003eThe Scholars\u003c\/em\u003e has some of the most expansive Car Seat Headrest songs to date, including the nearly 19-minute long ‘Planet Desperation’, and opener ‘CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)’, they know how to make each part of the journey compelling, filling the runtimes with unexpected turns and enervating hooks. And moments like the jaunty ‘The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That Man)’ show they haven’t lost their ability to write a short-and-sweet single that chimes like classic ‘60s folk pop, updated for the present. Having gone through their trials, Car Seat Headrest are now ready for the next chapter in their career. It will astonish both longtime supporters and new fans. While Car Seat Headrest started as Toledo's solo project, it is now fully a band. “What we've been doing more of in recent years is just taking the pulses of each other. We’ve really been leaning into that sort of cocoon that started off with the pandemic years and just turned into this special space that we were creating all on our own,” says Toledo. “I was coming out of it as a solo project and it always just felt like it was in pieces. There's the album we're working on, and then there's a live show that we're doing, and then there's everything in between. And it didn't really feel to me like things got in sync in an inner feeling way until this record, with that internal communal energy. And it's become that band feeling for me in a much more realized way. That's been a big journey.” It is a journey that listeners will want to embark on again and again as they absorb and discover the rich depths and clanging resonances of \u003cem\u003eThe Scholars\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Matador","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":51378533335371,"sku":"R8583-8436","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":51378533302603,"sku":"R8583-9721","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/afd1bb83-5c84-21e1-f998-b6f784a17710.jpg?v=1741024328"},{"product_id":"teen-of-denial-joe-s-story","title":"Teen of Denial: Joe’s Story","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cem\u003eTeens of Denial \u003c\/em\u003ere-imagined with new songs, updated arrangements, and alternate lyrics celebrating the classic album’s 10th anniversary\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn the original album, Toledo often used the name “Joe” as a pseudonym – a sly homage to Daniel Johnston. 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