Recorded in March of 2022 at Brooklyn Steel, this live album goes a long way in expressing both the charms and limitations of Will Toledo’s bedroom-pop project over a decade since its inception.
There was a brief moment where it seemed like Car Seat Headrest might have been poised to be one of the biggest indie bands to emerge from the last decade. This was in 2016, and to that point they’d hit every checkpoint you’d want a buzzy mid-2010s project to hit on both a critical and fan-based level, thanks largely in part to to-be classic LPs like “Twin Fantasy” and “Teens of Denial“.
Prior to 2016, Car Seat Headrest’s creative engine Will Toledo embodied a new kind of indie star. Like noted contemporary Alex G, Toledo was a wellspring of creativity, releasing music that felt raw, and a pace that felt almost frenetic. Uploaded to Bandcamp in 2010, his first album featured a note that would define his shy, withdrawn, vulnerable persona: “I probably would not have been able to make this album if I had thought anyone was going to listen to it,” wrote Toledo. This was bedroom pop promised.
But after 2016 and a deal with Matador Records, people were listening, and what’s come since has been mystifyingly sparse. “Teens of Denial” his 13th release in seven years. But in the seven since, the band has released only a single album of original material .
Which brings us to today and the band’s latest release. The nearly 90-minute record, which captures shows played at NYC’s Brooklyn Steel in support of their 2020 LP “Making a Door Less Open“, The band chooses to include from that record on “Masquerade” is one of its most perplexing aspects. A live LP should play as part greatest hits, but sometimes it can be risky to leave that up to the creator. when they do reach deep into their bag of actual greatest hits, there are some truly inspiring moments. They make us wait a bit, but the opening riff to “Fill in the Blank” hits as hard as ever, a reminder of how good this band can sound when they’re running on all cylinders. Ultimately, the highlights probably won’t surprise you: the dance-floor thrum of Twin Fantasy’s “Bodys,” the swelling “Something Soon,” the digressive brilliance of “Beach Life-in-Death.” Sure, for the most part these are pretty faithful renditions of Car Seat Headrest favourites.
The Fat Angel Sings 