Car Seat Headrest - The Scholars Review
A wildly ambitious college rock opera that’s equal parts heartfelt, theatrical, and unhinged.
As someone who hasn’t listened to a great deal of Car Seat Headrest, I found myself intrigued by the concept of their latest album: The Scholars. The idea of a college rock rock opera about a couple of colleges interested me immensely. I knew from my limited experience with this band that this album would be filled to the brim with frontman Will Toledo’s impassioned, often frighteningly earnest lyrics and a voice that struggles to keep his raw emotionality at bay, as well as guitarist Ethan Ives’ upbeat yet soul rending riffs. While I was largely met with this, I was also met by so much more...
The Canterbury Tales-esque stories about the denizens of a mythical university are swelling with beautiful yet haunting tales of hope, self discovery, acceptance, the burden of responsibility and more wonderful angst than you could shake a stick at. There is a strong undertone of grief that permeates throughout the lyrics so that even this album’s most up beat songs such as The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That) utterly drip with a sense of palpable loss, veiled thinly behind the catchy riffs and an upbeat tempo. While Toledo’s voice largely leads you through the emotional highs and lows of each song, guiding you through everything that the characters and likely Toledo himself are feeling; the lyrics are also cryptic enough to allow for a certain degree of interpretation. While it could be argued that the occasionally incoherent lyrics do not necessarily serve the album’s narrative or general purpose, it could also be claimed that they allow for a certain amount of self imposition and the ability to attribute your own meanings to them. In doing this, you as the listener are able to make each song uniquely applicable to an individual. Regardless of this, if you can’t self insert into a story about a school full of furries, why fucking bother creating a story about said furry school in the first place?
I would feel remiss writing about this album without discussing what is arguably its most interesting element: Its structure. What initially presents itself as a somewhat standard contribution by Carseat becomes derailed in its second act as a sprawling, narratively dense rock opera unfolds before us. The album is separated into two parts, much like a play. (See what they did there)? The first half of the album firmly positions itself as college rock with some theatrical elements, largely in the form of its lyrics. The second half of the album attacks you with an intensely theatrical rock operatic odyssey. There is a clear distinction between the two halves of the album and unfortunately, you as a listener are not saved from tonal whiplash as genres are changed without any real notice. If this album had been a play, this is where an intermission clearly would have been; letting you go outside, stretch your legs, have a cigarette and some fresh air so that you could come back feeling refreshed and in the right headspace for the sudden switch up.
Despite this gripe, the individual parts of the album are undoubtedly great. The first part is solid college rock throughout, not muddled by its overtly thespian lyrics. With catchy, upbeat guitar riffs that positively reek of the young adulthood, that this album tries to capture and simple enough drum beats that permeate throughout and largely tie it all together; the first part of this album is absolute blast to cry in the shower or rock out to. The choice is yours. The overdriven guitar helps to recycle the intensely theatrical lyrics into college rock anthems that brim with hope while barely disguising the anguish and melancholy that Car Seat Headrest is so well renowned for. This allows for a remarkably interesting blend of the two genres that manage to encapsulate the key components of each one without ever really encroaching on the other’s territory. The major player here is the drums. They remain largely simple throughout, taking their place as this album’s backbone; never the focal point, but absolutely crucial to keeping this album on the structural straight and narrow. They manage to maintain a status quo despite the sudden genre change halfway through the album, making the somewhat jarring switch far less egregious.
The second part of the album is where it truly comes into its own. The college rock takes a backseat in order to allow the rock opera to take center stage and it does so with aplomb. While the riffs themselves may not change on paper, the dad rock melodies are played in a far more flamboyant and theatrical way which creates an atmosphere of youthful joie for de vivre that is so crucial to the essence of this album. The extended run times of most of the songs on the second half largely work in its favour, letting you bury yourself in the deep lore and stories that are the real focal point here. It is somewhat let down by the almost nineteen minute ‘Planet Desperation’ that consistently displays elements of greatness, but just doesn't quite seem to to stick the landing that well. At its core, it just has no real need to be that long. The final five and a half minutes could have been separated into its own song and if it had, it would have unquestionably been the standout song on this album. However, it is unfortunately tacked onto what is probably the most inconsistent thirteen minutes of this album.
At its core, this is a narrative driven, lyrically dense and plainly epic rock opera that was forced into albumhood. I truly hope that Toledo is given the opportunity to turn this into the play that it is meant to be. In the meantime however, it cannot be argued that despite its flaws, this album is an absolute pleasure to listen to. Transporting you into a world of fantastical academia with unique (and occasionally feathered) characters that is brought to life by its none too complex, but utterly brilliant instrumentals.