Teens of Denial explained

Teens of Denial
Type:Album
Artist:Car Seat Headrest
Cover:Teens of Denial Car Seat Headrest.jpg
Border:yes
Released:May 20, 2016
Recorded:2015–2016
Studio:Soundhouse (Seattle)
Genre:
Length:70:07
Label:Matador
Producer:Steve Fisk
Prev Title:Teens of Style
Prev Year:2015
Next Title:Twin Fantasy (Face to Face)
Next Year:2018

Teens of Denial is the tenth studio album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, released on May 20, 2016 via Matador Records. The album served as the band's second for the label and the first to consist of newly written material.

Background

Writing for Teens of Denial began in 2013, shortly after the release of Car Seat Headrest's eighth album, Nervous Young Man. Due to the previous album's length and complexity, lead singer and songwriter Will Toledo decided to focus on writing music that was more straightforward and easier to perform live.[1] Toledo would go on to describe Teens of Denial as a bildungsroman, adding that, "I wrote it during a period in my life where I was not feeling a lot of love. Its tone and content reflect that. I made it because that's what I do – records have always marked the various phases of my life, and I needed to get out of this one, so I needed to make a record."[2] The album was heavily influenced by Toledo's time in college at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, but also drew influence from the life of Frank Sinatra and Ernest Becker's 1974 book, The Denial of Death.[3]

In an interview with Uproxx, Toledo noted that it took two years to finish writing the album, as he wanted the songs to flow together coherently. Outtakes from this period were released on the 2014 EP, How to Leave Town.[4]

Release

In a November 2015 interview with Billboard, Toledo stated that the band's 2015 album Teens of Style would be followed by Teens of Denial, which he indicated would be their first to feature an outside producer and a "totally different" sound.[5] On February 23, 2016, the lead single from Teens of Denial, "Vincent", was released, along with an accompanying music video.[6] On March 24, Toledo announced a May 20 release date for the album and premiered the album's second single, "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales".[7]

Recall

On May 13, 2016, Matador Records recalled the entire initial compact disc and vinyl print runs of the album following the denial of permission to use lyrics from The Cars' "Just What I Needed" in the song "Just What I Needed/Not Just What I Needed".[8] It was the first time in the label's history that they had recalled a record.[9] The recalled copies were destroyed at the label's warehouse using a garbage truck compactor.[9]

Car Seat Headrest and Matador Records had believed that they had secured the proper approval from The Cars' publisher to include the interpolation of "Just What I Needed" in "Just What I Needed/Not Just What I Needed" and had moved forward with pressing copies of Teens of Denial with the song.[9] However, on May 10, 2016, Cars singer and songwriter Ric Ocasek denied permission to use elements of "Just What I Needed" after discovering that Toledo had changed a line from the original lyrics.[9] Toledo recorded a new version of the song, titled "Not What I Needed", which removed the elements from "Just What I Needed" and was inserted in the revised track list of the album,[10] adding a reversed sample of "Something Soon" from Car Seat Headrest's previous album, Teens of Style, and a recording of an interview Toledo did with a German radio station.[11] The digital release of Teens of Denial was unaffected by the recall and included the new song, while the physical release was delayed until July.[9]

Critical reception

Teens of Denial holds a score of 86 out of 100 on the online review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". David Brusie of The A.V. Club wrote that the repeated "exercise in tension and release" throughout the record "is essential to Teens of Denials blistering greatness", concluding that "Toledo seems to be saying, buckle in; I'm taking you somewhere exciting. Trust him." Mark Deming of AllMusic found "real and powerful wit" in the album's songs and stated that Toledo "has created something like a novel after previously offering us short stories, and it's a piece of rough-hewn brilliance." In a "Best New Music" review for Pitchfork, Jeremy Gordon noted "even with the bigger budget and brighter environs, Toledo's underriding DIY sensibility comes through", adding that, "there’s an honest reckoning with what his wallowing has led to, and rapturous exhortation when logic alone cannot solve a problem" in regard to the album's themes and lyrics. NME critic Alex Flood called Teens of Denial "the work of a precocious talent."

Accolades

PublicationAccoladeYearRank
American SongwriterTop 50 Albums of 20162016
The A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club's Top 50 Albums of 20162016
Consequence of SoundTop 50 Albums of 20162016
NMENME's Albums of the Year 20162016
MojoThe 50 Best Albums of 20162016
Paste50 Best Albums of 20162016
PitchforkThe 20 Best Rock Albums of 20162016
The 50 Best Albums of 20162016
The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s2019
Rolling Stone50 Best Albums of 20162016
The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s2019
Rough TradeAlbums of the Year2016
The SkinnyTop 50 Albums of 20162016
StereogumThe 50 Best Albums of 20162016
The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s2019

Personnel

Car Seat Headrest

Additional musicians

Production

Notes and References

  1. Web site: May 20 . Eric Renner Brown . EDT . 2016 at 11:50 AM . Car Seat Headrest's Will Toledo talks 4chan, Green Day, and why drugs suck . 2022-05-17 . EW.com . en.
  2. Web site: car seat headrest. car seat headrest. 2019-10-24.
  3. Web site: Lindsay. Cam. 2016-09-14. Fall Music Preview: Car Seat Headrest's Will Toledo breaks down the influences behind his new record. 2021-09-02. NOW Magazine. en-US. 2021-11-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20211106182057/https://nowtoronto.com/car-seat-headrest-will-toledo-breaks-down-the-influence-behind-his-new-record. dead.
  4. News: A Guide To All Of Car Seat Headrest's Pre-Fame Albums (All 11 Of Them). 2016-10-28. UPROXX. 2018-11-22. en-US.
  5. New Noise: Car Seat Headrest Is a Bandcamp Cult Hero on to Something Big . . November 4, 2015 . May 24, 2016 . Payne . Chris.
  6. Web site: Car Seat Headrest Blasts Off With The Brilliant 'Vincent' . . February 23, 2016 . May 24, 2016 . Boilen . Bob.
  7. Web site: Car Seat Headrest announces new album, Teens of Denial, shares "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" — listen . . March 24, 2016 . May 24, 2016 . Brennan . Collin.
  8. Web site: Gordon. Jeremy. Car Seat Headrest LPs Destroyed Because Ric Ocasek Wouldn't Authorize a Cars Sample Pitchfork. pitchfork.com. 12 May 2016 . 14 August 2016.
  9. Web site: Jurgensen. John. Why a Record Label Crushed a Batch of Vinyl Records. Wall Street Journal. 14 August 2016. 1 June 2016.
  10. Web site: Reilly. Dan. How Car Seat Headrest Wrote His Fraught, Least-Favorite New Song, 'Not What I Needed'. Vulture. 11 August 2016 . 14 August 2016.
  11. Web site: God, Drugs, And Copyright Infringement: Car Seat Headrest's Comedy Of Errors. https://web.archive.org/web/20160521114154/http://www.mtv.com/news/2883543/car-seat-headrest-teens-of-denial-interview/. dead. May 21, 2016. Geffen. Sasha. MTV News. en. 2019-11-23.