Beginning as a solo recording project by Toledo in 2010, Car Seat Headrest self-released 12 albums on the music platform Bandcamp, before signing to Matador Records in 2015. Car Seat Headrest would begin touring as a full band the following year.
History
2010–2014: Lo-fi and solo releases, from 1 to How to Leave Town
Car Seat Headrest began as the solo project of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Will Toledo (born William Barnes) shortly after he graduated high school. Toledo had previously released music under the alias Nervous Young Men, but after struggling to establish an audience, he decided to change tactics, choosing to try and release more experimental songs anonymously. Toledo chose the name "Car Seat Headrest" as he would often record the vocals to his early albums in the back seat of his car for privacy.
Throughout the summer of 2010, Toledo released his first four albums under the Car Seat Headrest name: 1, 2, 3, and 4. 1 and 2 incorporated less traditional song structures, with stream-of-consciousness lyrics, whereas 3 and 4 would begin to cement his lo-fi indie rock style. Following the numbered albums, Toledo began attending classes at Virginia Commonwealth University, releasing the Sunburned Shirts EP during his first semester. The Sunburned Shirts EP would later be partially combined with his fifth LP, 5, to create his first titled album, My Back Is Killing Me Baby, released in March 2011. Songs culled from 5 would later appear on the b-sides compilation album Little Pieces of Paper with "No" Written on Them.
After a difficult and lonely semester at VCU, Toledo transferred to the College of William & Mary, where he would release his next project, Twin Fantasy, a concept album centered on a relationship he was in at the time. Twin Fantasy would later be followed up by 2012's Monomania and Starving While Living EP.
Around this time, Toledo began performing live shows with fellow students Katie Wood, Austin Ruhf, and Christian Northover, recording and releasing a short live album in July 2013 entitled Live at WCWM: Car Seat Headrest at the university's studio. Toledo would release his next project the following month; a two-hour long double album entitled Nervous Young Man. Three of the songs, and the title of the album, were taken from his original project, Nervous Young Men, but had been heavily reworked and re-recorded. Released alongside Nervous Young Man, for those who paid $5 or more, was the outtakes compilation album Disjecta Membra.
Toledo's final solo release was 2014's How to Leave Town, an hour long EP with heavy electronic instrumentation and more ambitious song structures.
2015–2017: Matador Records, Teens of Style and Teens of Denial
Ethan Ives.
In September 2015, Car Seat Headrest announced on Facebook that he had signed an album deal with Matador Records. Toledo, who had recently graduated and moved to Seattle, recruited bassist Jacob Bloom and drummer Andrew Katz through Craigslist to record and tour his next album. In October 2015, Car Seat Headrest released the compilation album Teens of Style, their first to not be self-released exclusively via Bandcamp. Shortly after the album's release, Bloom left the group to attend medical school, and was replaced by bassist Ethan Ives.
Ives played bass throughout most of the recordings for the band's following release, but would later switch to guitar and other instruments, with Seth Dalby taking over on bass. Ives and Dalby were later cemented in these positions during live shows and future releases. The new album, created with traditional studio processes, Teens of Denial, was released on May 20, 2016. The album received universal acclaim, and brought the band a new wave of popularity.
In 2017, Car Seat Headrest released an alternate mix of their single, "War Is Coming (If You Want It)" through Bandcamp for one day, with profits going to the Transgender Law Center. The original mix of the track was released ten days later.
On December 13, 2017, the band released a re-recorded version of "Beach Life-In-Death", the second track on Twin Fantasy, through Spotify without prior announcement. This sparked fan rumors that the album would be re-recorded and released the following year. On December 27, 2017, an Amazon listing detailing a re-recorded version of Twin Fantasy was found by fans, and subsequently uploaded to the Car Seat Headrest subreddit. This was followed up by a listing on SRCVinyl.com with the date February 16, 2018.
2018–2019: Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) and Commit Yourself Completely
On January 9, 2018, Matador Records formally announced the release of the re-recording, entitled Twin Fantasy (Face to Face), alongside a re-release of the original album. Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) was released via Matador on February 16. The original, which has been re-titled Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror), was released on vinyl as a part of Record Store Day on April 21. On February 15, 2018, the band released a cover of "Fallen Horses" by Smash Mouth, who returned the favor by covering "Something Soon". Around the same time, they began touring with fellow Seattle-based band, Naked Giants, as a part of the group's expanded live lineup.
In August 2018, when asked about new material, Toledo confirmed that he was “demoing out stuff in Ableton,” adding “there might be some stuff that surprises people who only know us as a rock band, but I don’t think it will come as a surprise to people who are checking out all the deep cuts.” In January 2019, Andrew Katz confirmed the band was recording new music through a video uploaded on Instagram.
Following the tease of new music, the band began experimenting with new material at various live shows in December 2018, debuting the tracks "Weightlifters", "Hollywood", "Stop Lying To Me", and "You Know There's Someone Out There", soon followed by "Can't Cool Me Down" in February and March 2019 performances. All were officially released on the next album except for "Stop Lying To Me" and "You Know There's Someone Out There".
On June 12, 2019, Car Seat Headrest announced a new live album titled Commit Yourself Completely, featuring official recordings of performances from the Twin Fantasy tour from 2018. It was released the following week on June 17.
2020–present: Making a Door Less Open
On February 26, 2020, Car Seat Headrest announced their first studio album consisting of wholly new material since 2016's Teens of Denial, Making a Door Less Open. This announcement coincided with the release of "Can't Cool Me Down", the first single and second track off the album, and a release date of May 1, 2020. It marks a stylistic divergence from previous material, Toledo describing the album as containing elements of EDM, hip hop, futurism, doo-wop, soul and rock and roll. Three more singles were released to promote the album between March and April of that year: "Martin", "Hollywood" and "There Must Be More Than Blood". The release also coincided with the introduction of Trait, an alternative persona of Toledo's, featured prominently wearing a modified gas mask with blinking LED lights for eyes. The character had originally been created for the group's "comedic" side project, 1 Trait Danger, featuring Toledo alongside drummer Andrew Katz.
Making a Door Less Open was released with three separate versions across different formats: vinyl, CD and streaming, each with variations in track-list and specific musical elements. The album received a mixed reaction from fans, which pointed out the many divergences from the band's previous works, but received an overall score of 77 on review aggregate site Metacritic. Toledo noted that he and the band were working on a companion album for their latest release, while also looking for ways to improve the Trait mask to incorporate it into live performances.
Style
AllMusic biographer Mark Deming wrote that Car Seat Headrest created "moody and introspective lo-fi pop tunes that are melodic but structurally ambitious at once." Writing for Pitchfork, Jeremy Gordon stated that on Teens of Denial, "Will Toledo reaffirms that he is ahead of the pack as an imaginative singer-songwriter, capable of crafting dynamic indie rock." Ian Cohen of Pitchfork also described Toledo's music as "dense, confounding music that most often captures the giddy thrill of having access to recording equipment, of finally put a sound to the voice in your head."
Car Seat Headrest's influences include Radiohead, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Daniel Johnston, Destroyer, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, Leonard Cohen, of Montreal, Modest Mouse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sufjan Stevens, Swans, They Might Be Giants, Why?, R.E.M., the Who, Nirvana, the Blackout, Neil Diamond, William Onyeabor, the Clash, the Cars, James Brown, DEVO, Queen, Rod Stewart, and Green Day.
Homes
Car Seat Headrest Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just a stereo
I used to play but now I've
Got this stereo
You brought it with you when you moved in
So we would never be alone
Always something in the background
But I escape
With just a hint of a black eye
And we're always almost over
But then we wake up
And it's already one o'clock
And I hope I can change
I hope I can change
But oh my god
It's so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
(not our fault that the cops are assholes)
Forte without piano
Never stop complaining
It's what I love about you
You never stop complaining
Next step is buckets out
When we start raining
Let's go out tonight
Because our home is falling apart
And you're always almost punched
But you escape
With just a hint of a black eye
And we're always almost over
But then we wake up
And it's already two o'clock
And I hope I can change
People are dying, I hope I can change
But oh my god
It's so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
(Remember when I made jokes?
The joke's on you, fucker,
I never made any jokes
I meant every word)
If home is where I go to die
If home is where I go to die
And we're always almost punched
But we escape
With just a hint of a black eye
And I'm always almost sober
By the time I have to drive you back home
And we're always almost over
And then we are
And I hope I can change
I am dying, I hope I can change
But oh my god
It's so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
The lyrics of “Homes” by Car Seat Headrest are about a dysfunctional relationship, where the couple is barely holding on to the relationship. The singer talks about how their house doesn’t have a piano, but only a stereo that they listen to. This signifies the loss of something that was once important to the singer. He used to play piano, but now he has to settle for just listening to music, while he tries to fix his relationship with his partner. The stereo was brought in by his partner when they moved in together, to ensure that they’re never alone, and there’s always something in the background. This could be interpreted as the only thing holding their relationship together.
Through the song, the singer sings about how they constantly face challenges in their relationship and nearly break up but miraculously get back together. The lines, “And you're always almost punched/ But you escape/ With just a hint of a black eye” and “And I'm always almost sober/ By the time I have to drive you back home” show that the couple is violent with each other and also indulge in alcohol. Despite all of this, they still want to be together, and hope to change for the better.
The last line, “If home is where I go to die,” shows that the singer doesn't have a happy life even though he's with his partner. Home is not the place where he finds comfort or safety. It is a place where they both are miserable, and their relationship is falling apart. The song leaves the listeners with a feeling that the couple’s relationship is poisoned even though they try to hold on to it.
Line by Line Meaning
A house without a piano
A place to live that does not have a musical instrument used to play songs.
Just a stereo
Only a device to listen to music that plays through it.
I used to play but now I've
Got this stereo
I once played music but now I listen to it on this device.
You brought it with you when you moved in
So we would never be alone
Always something in the background
You brought this device with you when you relocated, so we would always have something playing in the background to help us not feel lonely.
And I'm always almost punched
But I escape
With just a hint of a black eye
I am frequently about to get hit, but I avoid it and only get a small bruise on my eye as a result.
And we're always almost over
But then we wake up
And it's already one o'clock
Our relationship is always nearly finished, but when we wake up, it's already late in the evening.
And I hope I can change
I hope I can change
But oh my god
It's so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
I wish I could change my behavior, but it's incredibly challenging, and I'm concerned that this is just the way I am.
(not our fault that the cops are assholes)
It's not our responsibility that the police officers are unpleasant individuals.
Forte without piano
Never stop complaining
It's what I love about you
You never stop complaining
We have a strong relationship without musical instruments, and I appreciate that you never cease to voice your grievances.
Next step is buckets out
When we start raining
Let's go out tonight
Because our home is falling apart
If it begins to rain harshly, we must be ready to move water outside. Let us go out tonight since our home is starting to break apart.
And you're always almost punched
But you escape
With just a hint of a black eye
You frequently come close to being hit, but you avoid it and only get a small bruise on your eye.
And we're always almost over
But then we wake up
And it's already two o'clock
Our relationship is always nearly finished, but when we wake up, it's already early in the morning.
I hope I can change
People are dying, I hope I can change
But oh my god
It's so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
I want to be able to modify my actions since people are dying, but it's incredibly difficult, and I'm concerned that this is just who I am.
(Remember when I made jokes?
The joke's on you, fucker,
I never made any jokes
I meant every word)
(Do you recall when I joked around? Well, it is not funny. I never made jokes; I always meant what I said.)
If home is where I go to die
If home is where I go to die
If the place I go to perish is considered as my home.
And I'm always almost sober
By the time I have to drive you back home
And we're always almost over
And then we are
I'm always nearly sober by the time I drop you off, and our relationship is always nearly ended, and then it is.
I hope I can change
I am dying, I hope I can change
But oh my god
It's so hard
And what if this
Is who I am
I wish I could change since I am dying, but it's incredibly challenging, and I'm concerned that this is just the way I am.
Contributed by Eva E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
adrian montecello
on sun hot
Sun, get me hot
Sun, get me hot
Sun, get me hot (Sun, get me high)
Sun, get me hot (Sun, get me hot)
Sun, get me hot (Sun, get me high)
Sun, get me hot (Sun, get me hot)
Sun, get me hot
Sun going down
Ooh, ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Sun hot, sun
Sun hot, sun
Sun hot, sun
Sun hot, sun
adrian montecello
on beach weak
Did you want to see me?
You didn't want to see me
Did you, old friend, I can you hear you stealing
Loving in the locker room
It's a careless mistake
How many people can fit into a room?
When you stop drinking everything
Just starts to not invite me to your party
Lock the door on me
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
Did you ask me anything?
I didn't ask you anything
Think I understand just what's pretending to
Not ignore me
Sitting at your amber dresser
Letter with an extra letter in my name
And we've known each other for far too long
To be losing punctuation on this alcohol
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
(See you there, see you there, see you there, Will)
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
(See you there, see you there, Will)
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
Did you want to see me?
You didn't want to see me
Did you, old friend, old friend, I can
Hardly remember all the times we slaved
Over our friendship
We had a share of hard times
Sign my yearbook, I don't wanna be in any more
Debt to Mister Ray-Bans you didn't even like when you were in them
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
And I hope you have a good time, hope you have a good time when you're there
Did you ask me anything?
I didn't ask you anything
Think I understand just what's pretending to-
Yes?
Um, I need to go out for a while and get the van
Sounds great
[?] and then I'm gonna go grocery shopping, so I should be back by 1:40. Have you eaten anything today?
No
No?
Just forgot
adrian montecello
on sun hot
posted the lyrics to the wrong song haha i have no idea how this site works
adrian montecello
on sun hot
Did you want to see me?
You didn't want to see me
Did you, old friend, I can you hear you stealing
Loving in the locker room
It's a careless mistake
How many people can fit into a room?
When you stop drinking everything
Just starts to not invite me to your party
Lock the door on me
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
Did you ask me anything?
I didn't ask you anything
Think I understand just what's pretending to
Not ignore me
Sitting at your amber dresser
Letter with an extra letter in my name
And we've known each other for far too long
To be losing punctuation on this alcohol
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
(See you there, see you there, see you there, Will)
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
(See you there, see you there, Will)
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
Did you want to see me?
You didn't want to see me
Did you, old friend, old friend, I can
Hardly remember all the times we slaved
Over our friendship
We had a share of hard times
Sign my yearbook, I don't wanna be in any more
Debt to Mister Ray-Bans you didn't even like when you were in them
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
See you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I'll see you there, yes I will
And I hope you have a good time, hope you have a good time when you're there
Did you ask me anything?
I didn't ask you anything
Think I understand just what's pretending to-
Yes?
Um, I need to go out for a while and get the van
Sounds great
[?] and then I'm gonna go grocery shopping, so I should be back by 1:40. Have you eaten anything today?
No
No?
Just forgot