Even if the "Pavement with Beck's voice" effect is still in operation, Will Toledo alias Car Seat Headrest does have a personality of his own. And a strong one... At just 26 years old, he is throwing out recordings with the rapid, repetitive movements of a compulsive pistachio eater. A pseudo-group born of the overactive imagination of this Virginian who came to Seattle, Car Seat Headrest is resuscitating the American indie rock of the 1990s. The guitars stagger but stay fixed on the melody; the vocals reel but hold the line; and the lyrics juggle everyday melancholy, delicious cynicism and offbeat humour. So it all evokes Pavement and Beck, sure, but also Guided By Voices, the Silver Jews, Dinosaur Jr. or Nirvana, in short, all the most spirited terrorists of the 1990s rock'n'roll underground...
With Twin Fantasy (Face To Face), Car Seat Headrest's eleventh studio album, Toledo has decided to re-record an album that came out in 2011. Aware of the potential of the songs that he wrote when he was only 19, he gives them rather more professional treatment here, giving a fantastic musical frame to his intelligent, honest and introspective writing. The tribulations of adolescents and young adults have always been good fuel for great records. And here is even more proof... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz