Will Toledo’s debut studio album heightens his earlier recordings with increased production and added emotion.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Release Date: Oct. 30
Will Toledo may be 23 years old, but musically, he’s no different than any depressed high school teenager. Better known by his stage name, Car Seat Headrest, Toledo started out as a young Seattle teen releasing his self-recorded songs on Bandcamp without signing on to a record label. Now, officially signed on to a Matador label, Toledo still manages to keep those initial recordings in his debut studio album, but adds more intricate production and sentiment as a way to tell his story in a fresh way. “Teens of Style” consistently hangs on to a teen-angst theme that comes off as tiresome, but is overshadowed by a polished sound quality and by individuality.
Toledo is young and experiencing a life changing event: being associated with a new record label. However, he’s just a bystander compared to his friends, who are “making money” and “getting married.” “Something Soon” describes his alienation and expresses his consequential frustration with it all. His discontent is felt through his pessimistic outlook and whiny lyric: “We’ve all had better times to die” and “I don’t have any hope left, but the weather is nice.” Just how depressed can a teenager get before it becomes too dramatic?
Tracks like “Times to Die” and “Maud Gone” together create a divergent atmosphere from his 2013 Bandcamp release “Twin Fantasy.” The new equipped backup band was used to his advantage by incorporating more distorted but amplified guitar sounds. The lo-fi guitar and edgy tone produced are reminiscent of indie rock bands The Memories and BRONCHO. His emotional journey is musically expressed in a way that is entertaining and intriguing to almost any age group.
Despite the annoying “depressed teen” vibes portrayed throughout the album, Toledo musically adds his own personal style to capture a great deal of emotion that is moving and empathetic. “Teens of Style” depicts that adolescent representation while successfully sticking to Toledo’s personal musical identity.
