New Music (5.27.2016)

Car Seat Headrest
Teens of Denial

Have you ever heard a song, then needed to hear it again every couple of hours? Teens of Denial, the second album of Car Seat Headrest's post-Bandcamp career, is filled with those: from the Strokes-inspired "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales," to the Parquet-Courts-esque "Connect the Dots," to the Pearl Jam callback of "Destroyed by Hippie Powers," songwriting and execution combine for an addictive experience.

If you liked any music at all in the 90's or early 2000's, you will absolutely love Teens of Denial, as I do. This is the best album of the year so far not written by David Bowie, by a wide margin. The range of influences on showcase are vast and inclusive: there's the previously mentioned Strokes, Parquet Courts, and Pearl Jam; there's dance-y punk like you would hear from LCD Soundsystem or Beck; regular punk you might get from old Green Day or new Cloud Nothings. There's so much to choose from.

But don't fear that list; Car Seat Headrest and its founder, Will Toledo, don't drown in their influences. Instead, they perform a glorious synchronized swimming routine within them. Teens of Denial is like a greatest hits of everything you actually liked on rock radio growing up (if you're from my generation that is: borderline Y-millennial).

And now it's time to talk about one of the best songs of this year and several years, the aforementioned "Destroyed by Hippie Powers." This is masterful song construction and performance: the Julian Casablancas vocal delivery, the grunge guitars that swell in and out like the Pixies at their best, the screamed ending that would make Kurt Cobain jealous, the massive sound of the intro and outro where fuzzed-out reverb combines with drums to sound like a full orchestra. The sheer awesomeness is so beautiful to my alt-rock-loving ears, I want to fall to my knees and cry.

Teens of Denial is the album grunge lovers have been waiting for since Soundgarden broke up (the first time) plus more. It's so incredibly well crafted and carefully structured that not a single moment of the album goes by without demanding your complete attention--and it sounds so damn good, you'll want to give it.

Now let's go crowd surf and smash our instruments.