Album Review: The Scholars by Car Seat Headrest

Pop quiz! Which is the first Car Seat Headrest album? Perhaps 2010's 1, Will Toledo's earliest release under the moniker? Maybe 2011's Twin Fantasy, his initial attempt writing an album qua album? You might say 2016's Teens of Denial, his studio debut (of new material) with a backing band. Whatever your bent, its premise likely supposes Car Seat Headrest is Will Toledo. The Scholars shatters such assumptions.

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During its nascency as a solo bedroom operation, multiple releases per year were de rigueur; as a full band, CSH are no stranger to jamming clear across the 60 minute mark. The Scholars, though, takes things up a grade. The term "rock opera" has rarely been so apt, with Toledo and co getting deep into some serious world building for Car Seat Headrest's 13th record (fifth as a full band).

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Over the past decade, Will Toledo has done the opposite of what helped him build a solid fan base early in his career. As an artist under the moniker Car Seat Headrest, Toledo released 11 albums over four years and was quickly snatched up by Matador. The record label milked a lot out of his early ….

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Car Seat Headrest's The Scholars isn't the band's first dalliance with a narrative format. Their 2011 album Twin Fantasy, which was re-recorded and re-released in 2018, is a concept album about adolescent self-discovery and sexual awakening. The Scholars similarly centers on young adults, but these characters are less concerned with sex and drugs than the esoteric traditions and mysterious happenings at the fictional Parnassus University.

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To follow newfound fame among young listeners with an hour-plus rock opera is a bold move to most, but for Virginia born Will Toledo and his expansive Car Seat Headrest project, it doesn't fall a million miles away from the more epic moments peppered throughout his acclaimed catalogue. Although 'The Scholars' embraces the idea of a concept record at its most distilled, Will and friends have never shied away from a fifteen-minute sonic whirlwind. But perhaps most notably here, these friends have been fully absorbed into the fold, expanding in sound from Will's solo musings for an altogether more composed affair to allow some breathing room for Will - who has spent some of the past five years battling some almost career-ending health issues - and to bring the album's character-driven narrative to life.

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