Change is in the air for Car Seat Headrest. Their near decision to retire from touring and instead focus on albums is still a possibility. Not because they want to, and there is still appetites to whet with their live work, but because The Scholars brings out a new side to the band. It feels as complete a group project as can be, the first time other members of the band were feeding more than a few notes into place. Solo demos turned into Car Seat Headrest songs is how they worked for the last few years, but The Scholars shifts its shape and tone as new voices are heard. Literally, in some cases, when Will Toledo steps back for Andrew Katz, Ethan Ives, and Seth Dalby to provide vocals. Differences like these, experiments with group members, are what keep a band truly alive. You can tour all you want; it is contemporary material which gives a group its edge.
The Scholars is exactly that, a chance for the band to sharpen their tone amid a period of forced change. A massive rock opera is what comes about. Near enough an operatic, anyway. The Scholars features all the strong instrumental tones of the band to date, but they are moulded by Toledo’s illness. He is, as he notes on CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You), stepping out of the dark. That change to his life is as open as it gets for The Scholars, a tone of complete honesty is presented to listeners, whether they wanted to know or not. Magnificent instrumental work is what Car Seat Headrest needs for these new storytelling strokes, and it is exactly what they offer. Deveraux is an excellent, gliding guitar song. A fine blur of that inspirational but imitable style. Joy is repressed by hardship, but eventually the pressure bursts, and liberation and positivity are bound to come through at some stage. It certainly does for Car Seat Headrest here, with The Scholars one of their strongest releases to date.
Sharp songwriting is to thank for that, with The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man) a stunning moment of adapting to life and everything it continues to throw at you. What could be a maddening act of excess for forty-minute run of Gethsemane, Reality, and Planet Desperation is a fantastic display from Car Seat Headrest. That fine line walked between challenging a listener and throwing a few comfortable tempo changes their way. It’s as fulfilling a piece of music as the band has ever brought out, and it strengthens The Scholars in more ways than mere music-making. It’s the dedication to album work as a project, not something to dip into, as is the norm for some passive listeners. Those moments of deeper storytelling work better on Reality than they do on Planet Desperation, but the latter song is a magnificent showcase of how Car Seat Headrest can make satisfying epics.
Blissful metaphors and cool delivery on Reality is a powerful moment from the band, whose adaptation to new ways of living and creating can be heard throughout The Scholars. A song like Planet Desperation can define bands for years to come, and it may be the case for Car Seat Headrest. Their work on The Scholars is powerful, presents a rock and roll authority never expected of the band, and brings out the best in their years of creative overlap. Experimental and stylish all at once, a rare balance for bands to hit on, especially when their album becomes a seventy-minute project. Steady work from Car Seat Headrest across a truly ambitious album, The Scholars is a wild and welcome treat from the band, who reinvent their sound after a few years of being defined by Twin Fantasy. This is a brilliant next step.
