Making a Door Less Open is the 13th album under the Car Seat Headrest moniker. The once single man project that recorded vocals in a car to avoid eavesdropping parents is now a seven-piece live act tasked with being the saviors of indie rock.
In the five years since Teens of Denial, their last Matador release of original material, the band has grown to unimaginable heights when considering its starting line. In 2018 Will and company released a re-recorded version of Twin Fantasy, the 2011 Bandcamp staple that hinted towards Will’s wunderkind songwriting capabilities. After Twin Fantasy’s re-release, the band embarked on their largest tour yet, including an opening slot for Interpol at Madison Square Garden.
This new album was written, recorded, mixed and mastered from January 2015 to December 2019 and picks up right where Teens of Denial left off — confused and beaten.
Car Seat Headrest always manages to impress with their openers; “Fill in the Blank” on Teens of Denial, “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)” on Twin Fantasy and “Boxing Day” on Nervous Young Inhumans. “Weightlifters” is Making a Door Less Open’s tone-setting preface. It begins with an almost two-minute instrumental of a mid-pitched wale and by the time Toledo joins the mix the song is propelled by syncopated guitar, drums and bass. The lyrics are tackling the incessant pursuit of gaining control of yourself (Thoughts can change my body/Dawned on me/Your body can change your mind).
“Can’t Cool Me Down” was released as the first single and is without a doubt the catchiest song on the album. Its earworm chorus and breakdown is a synthesized “Destroyed By Hippie Powers” about rising body temperatures, inner thoughts and contemplations when you are paralyzed by sickness. The final third of the track is where Toledo takes a back seat and the instrumental pushes to the forefront; pulsing rhythms, dry drums and sampled guitars invokes college party debauchery.
Unfortunately, the album does not maintain its inertia past the first two songs. A second act slump takes its place by the fourth track “Hollywood” and continues in “Hymn – Remix.” The former has a King Gizzard-like guitar riff open the song before Toledo comes in with his signature lethargic vocals. But, once drummer Andrew Katz takes the microphone the song falls apart. His screaming vocals are obnoxious and over the top, and even though this is an intentional flaw the surrounding material is not enough to justify its juvenility.
Katz and Toledo have a side project, 1 Trait Danger, most likely made to bring their bandmates to laughter with its pubescent lyrics and passé instrumentals. The duo do not take themselves seriously and it’s clear that the project is made for comedy purposes, but it has now spilled into Car Seat Headrest material. Toledo now wears a mask on stage and in music videos and goes under the pseudonym Trait. This was carried over from 1 Trait Danger and has since been reinforced by the Bob Dylan quote, “if someone’s wearing a mask, he’s gonna tell you the truth…if he’s not wearing a mask, it’s highly unlikely.”
The album reaches glorious heights in its final three songs. “Life Worth Missing” begins with a punchy piano intro similar to Daniel Johnston’s “Walking The Cow,” before the band shows off the capabilities of the studio they are recorded in. Toledo flexes his penmanship, which is the trait that lifts Car Seat Headrest above today’s oversaturated sea of indulgent, trite indie rock. He paints with large lyrical strokes that invoke images of fleeting and foggy memories. “There Must Be More Than Blood,” is a song about the trappings of suburbia and the lives that are fully encapsulated in the sprawling but constructed towns in America’s southeast.
“Famous” is a cacophony of indiscernible sounds, drums and lyrics that ends the record. As the title suggests, the track takes a look at Toledo’s feeling with his fame and placement on rock music’s highest pedestal. He fights with himself back and forth, torn and tattered (I need a break/I need a life that’s right/I need to wait/I’m tired of coming home sick/Someone will care about this).
The album blends EDM, garage rock, subtle pianos and mosh riffs into a record that while not cohesive, translates Toledo’s current mindset as well as reflecting the world’s headspace — confused and beaten. Every song tackles a different emotion, a separate feeling like an album of singles and not an album of songs. Those fans who love Car Seat Headrest for their concept albums and 15-minute musical manifestos may be disappointed in Making a Door Less Open, but those willing to restrain expectations will be rewarded by the final samples of “Famous.”
Essential songs: “Life Worth Missing,” “Can’t Cool Me Down” and “There Must Be More Than Blood”
Follow Christopher S. Cann on Twitter @chrstophercann
Making a Door Less Open is out on Matador Records, listen below.
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