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.
Unforgiving Girl
Car Seat Headrest Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What a glorious hell we have found
Until I recognize the sound
Of my voice again
For years I hadn't had a clue
But suddenly I can look through
Your eyes again
This isn't sex, I don't think, it's just extreme empathy
She's not my ex, we never met, but do you still think of me?
They say that the world is one, but if the world is one
How come you never come around anymore?
(I guess it's not that simple)
Well, everyone learns to live with their sins
But girl you wear yours like a brand new skin
So take it all off and let me back into your
It's an unforgiving world
She's not an unforgiving girl
It's an unforgiving world
She's not an unforgiving girl
Welcome to the Welcome Center
Make a U-Turn
My phone is freaking out
I'll lose my shit while it re-routes but
She moves and
She speaks and
She's on a chain that moves towards perfection
Baby, the effects are so good these days
If there were gears behind those big brown eyes
I wouldn't be able to tell the difference
Oh, girl
You know you got to be forgiving in a world like this
It's a small world
And you know you got to come see me sooner or later
Girl, you know I know
Alright, now listen girl (yeah?)
I'm only gonna say this once
I just need to make something make s-
I just need to make sure of something
And I feel like we both know it
I just wanna ask
We're dancing, right?
This is dancing
Well, everyone learns to live with themselves
And you're not the only one who's been through hell
So give me a sign that I'm not making love to myself
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
(It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl)
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
(It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl)
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
(It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl)
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
(It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl)
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
(It's an unforgiving world)
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
(It's an unforgiving world)
It's an unforgiving world
But she's not an unforgiving girl
It's an unforgiving world
It's an unforgiving world
But she's, she's not an unforgiving
(It's an unforgiving world)
That's it I like that one
(I was horrible on that one)
Fuck you
The song "Unforgiving Girl" by Car Seat Headrest is a complex and introspective piece that explores themes of forgiveness, empathy, and self-reflection. At the beginning of the song, the singer expresses the idea that he has found a glorious hell with another person before recognizing the sound of his own voice again. The lyrics suggest that he has lost his sense of self while caught up in the intensity of the relationship. However, as he starts to regain a sense of self-awareness, he can see through the other person's eyes again.
The second verse of the song explores the idea of extreme empathy and the thin line between love and friendship. The singer seems to be asking his former lover if she still thinks about him, despite the fact that they never met. He even questions the nature of the world and why the other person never comes around anymore. The chorus emphasizes the idea that the world might be unforgiving, but the other person is not an unforgiving girl.
As the song progresses, the singer reflects on the idea of forgiveness and learning to live with one's sins. He acknowledges the other person's struggles and their shared experiences of hell. The song ends with a sense of uncertainty as the singer asks the other person if they are dancing together or merely making love to themselves.
Overall, the song "Unforgiving Girl" by Car Seat Headrest deals with complex emotions and explores the nature of forgiveness, empathy, and self-awareness.
Line by Line Meaning
What a glorious hell we have found
The singer recognizes the thrill of living in a world full of pain and chaos.
Until I recognize the sound
The singer becomes self-aware and starts to recognize his own voice.
Of my voice again
The singer feels like he's finding his true self again after years of uncertainty.
For years I hadn't had a clue
The artist had been feeling lost and clueless about his identity for years.
But suddenly I can look through
The artist gains a new perspective that allows him to understand things in a new light.
Your eyes again
The singer sees the world through the eyes of another person.
This isn't sex, I don't think, it's just extreme empathy
The singer is not sure if this connection is sexual or emotional but feels an intense connection with the other person.
She's not my ex, we never met, but do you still think of me?
Despite never meeting before or having an existing relationship, the artist wonders if the other person still thinks of him.
They say that the world is one, but if the world is one
The artist questions the idea that the world is a unified, interconnected place.
How come you never come around anymore?
The artist wonders why the other person doesn't visit him anymore.
Well, everyone learns to live with their sins
The singer acknowledges that everyone has their own baggage and learns to deal with it.
But girl you wear yours like a brand new skin
The other person seems to carry their mistakes and pain with them all the time and it's easy to see how much it affects them.
So take it all off and let me back into your
The singer wants the other person to let their guard down and let him back in.
Welcome to the Welcome Center
The singer welcomes the other person to the place where they will connect.
Make a U-Turn
The singer is trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.
My phone is freaking out
The artist is experiencing technological difficulties that may cause issues.
I'll lose my shit while it re-routes but
The artist acknowledges that it's frustrating but is willing to stay patient.
She moves and
The other person seems to be constantly in motion and hard to keep up with.
She speaks and
The other person is constantly talking and expressing themselves.
She's on a chain that moves towards perfection
The other person seems to be working towards a perfect version of themselves and is constantly improving.
Baby, the effects are so good these days
The artist comments on the advancements in technology.
If there were gears behind those big brown eyes
The artist wonders if there is a machine-like process behind the other person's eyes.
I wouldn't be able to tell the difference
The singer comments that the other person's natural eye movement and mechanical eye movement may look the same.
You know you got to be forgiving in a world like this
The artist believes it's important to be forgiving in a world full of chaos and pain.
It's a small world
The singer believes that the world is smaller than we think and that people will eventually cross paths again.
And you know you got to come see me sooner or later
The singer believes that the other person will eventually visit him.
I just need to make something make s-
The singer is trying to articulate their thoughts.
I just need to make sure of something
The artist wants to confirm something with the other person.
And I feel like we both know it
The artist feels that the other person also knows what he wants to confirm.
We're dancing, right?
The singer clarifies the nature of their connection as dancing.
This is dancing
The singer reaffirms that their connection is purely dancing.
And you're not the only one who's been through hell
The artist empathizes with the other person and acknowledges that they have both gone through difficult times.
So give me a sign that I'm not making love to myself
The artist wants the other person to make it clear that they are also engaged in the connection and not just him.
It's an unforgiving world
The artist believes that the world is a harsh and unforgiving place.
But she's not an unforgiving girl
The singer believes that the other person is not like the world and is forgiving and kind.
Fuck you
The artist expresses anger and frustration towards someone, possibly the other person or someone else entirely.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: William Barnes
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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