| Teens of Denial | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 20, 2016 | |||
| Recorded | 2013-2016 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 70:07 | |||
| Label | Matador | |||
| Producer | Steve Fisk | |||
| Car Seat Headrest chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Teens of Denial | ||||
| ||||
Teens of Denial is the 11th studio album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, released on May 20, 2016 via Matador Records. The album served as the band's second for the label and the first to consist of newly written material.
Writing for Teens of Denial began in 2013, shortly after the release of Car Seat Headrest's eighth album, Nervous Young Man. Due to the previous album's length and complexity, lead singer and songwriter Will Toledo decided to focus on writing music that was more straightforward and easier to perform live. [1] Toledo would go on to describe Teens of Denial as a bildungsroman, adding that, "I wrote it during a period in my life where I was not feeling a lot of love. Its tone and content reflect that. I made it because that's what I do – records have always marked the various phases of my life, and I needed to get out of this one, so I needed to make a record." [2] The album was heavily influenced by Toledo's time in college at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, but also drew influence from the life of Frank Sinatra and Ernest Becker's 1974 book, The Denial of Death . [3]
In an interview with Uproxx, Toledo noted that it took two years to finish writing the album, as he wanted the songs to flow together coherently. Outtakes from this period were released on the 2014 EP, How to Leave Town. [4]
In a November 2015 interview with Billboard , Toledo stated that the band's 2015 album Teens of Style would be followed by Teens of Denial, which he indicated would be their first to feature an outside producer and a "totally different" sound. [5] On February 23, 2016, the lead single from Teens of Denial, "Vincent", was released, along with an accompanying music video. [6] On March 24, Toledo announced a May 20 release date for the album and premiered the album's second single, "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales". [7]
On May 13, 2016, Matador Records recalled the entire initial compact disc and vinyl print runs of the album following the denial of permission to use lyrics from The Cars' "Just What I Needed" in the song "Just What I Needed/Not Just What I Needed". [8] It was the first time in the label's history that they had recalled a record. [9] The recalled copies were destroyed at the label's warehouse using a garbage truck compactor. [9]
Car Seat Headrest and Matador Records had believed that they had secured the proper approval from The Cars' publisher to include the interpolation of "Just What I Needed" in "Just What I Needed/Not Just What I Needed" and had moved forward with pressing copies of Teens of Denial with the song. [9] However, on May 10, 2016, Cars singer and songwriter Ric Ocasek denied permission to use elements of "Just What I Needed" after discovering that Toledo had changed a line from the original lyrics. [9]
Toledo recorded a new version of the song, titled "Not What I Needed", which removed the elements from "Just What I Needed" and was inserted in the revised track list of the album, [10] adding a reversed sample of "Something Soon" from Car Seat Headrest's previous album, Teens of Style , and a recording of an interview Toledo did with a German radio station. [11] The digital release of Teens of Denial was unaffected by the recall and included the new song, while the physical release was delayed until July. [9]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 8.0/10 [12] |
| Metacritic | 86/100 [13] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| The Austin Chronicle | [15] |
| The A.V. Club | A [16] |
| Mojo | [17] |
| NME | 4/5 [18] |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10 [19] |
| Rolling Stone | [20] |
| Spin | 7/10 [21] |
| Uncut | 8/10 [22] |
| Vice (Expert Witness) | A [23] |
Teens of Denial holds a score of 86 out of 100 on the online review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". [13] David Brusie of The A.V. Club wrote that the repeated "exercise in tension and release" throughout the record "is essential to Teens of Denial's blistering greatness", concluding that "Toledo seems to be saying, buckle in; I'm taking you somewhere exciting. Trust him." [16] Mark Deming of AllMusic found "real and powerful wit" in the album's songs and stated that Toledo "has created something like a novel after previously offering us short stories, and it's a piece of rough-hewn brilliance." [14] In a "Best New Music" review for Pitchfork, Jeremy Gordon noted "even with the bigger budget and brighter environs, Toledo's underriding DIY sensibility comes through", adding that, "there’s an honest reckoning with what his wallowing has led to, and rapturous exhortation when logic alone cannot solve a problem" in regard to the album's themes and lyrics. [19] NME critic Alex Flood called Teens of Denial "the work of a precocious talent." [18]
| Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Songwriter | Top 50 Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 36 | |
| The A.V. Club | The A.V. Club's Top 50 Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 19 | |
| Consequence of Sound | Top 50 Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 18 | |
| NME | NME's Albums of the Year 2016 | 2016 | 45 | |
| Mojo | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 24 | |
| Paste | 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 3 | |
| Pitchfork | The 20 Best Rock Albums of 2016 | 2016 | — | |
| The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 24 | ||
| The 200 Best Albums of the 2010s | 2019 | 127 | ||
| Rolling Stone | 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 4 | |
| The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s | 2019 | 29 | ||
| Rough Trade | Albums of the Year | 2016 | 10 | |
| The Skinny | Top 50 Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 12 | |
| Stereogum | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | 11 | |
| The 100 Best Albums of the 2010s | 2019 | 99 |
All tracks are written by Will Toledo
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fill in the Blank" | 4:04 |
| 2. | "Vincent" | 7:45 |
| 3. | "Destroyed by Hippie Powers" | 5:03 |
| 4. | "(Joe Gets Kicked out of School for Using) Drugs with Friends (But Says This Isn't a Problem)" | 5:37 |
| 5. | "Not What I Needed" | 4:31 |
| 6. | "Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales" | 6:14 |
| 7. | "1937 State Park" | 4:00 |
| 8. | "Unforgiving Girl (She's Not An)" | 5:26 |
| 9. | "Cosmic Hero" | 8:31 |
| 10. | "The Ballad of the Costa Concordia" (contains lyrics and elements of the song "White Flag", written by Florian Armstrong, Rollo Armstrong and Rick Nowels) | 11:30 |
| 11. | "Connect the Dots (The Saga of Frank Sinatra)" | 6:07 |
| 12. | "Joe Goes to School" | 1:19 |
| Total length: | 70:07 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Act Suspicious" | 1:39 |
| 14. | "The Move" | 5:50 |
| Total length: | 77:36 | |
Car Seat Headrest
Additional musicians
Production
| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [40] | 121 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [41] | 82 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [42] | 198 |
| US Billboard 200 [43] | 180 |
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [44] | 3 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) [45] | 15 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [46] | 16 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [47] | 22 |
Turn On the Bright Lights is the debut studio album by American rock band Interpol. It was released in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2002, and in the United States the following day, through independent record label Matador Records. The album was recorded in November 2001 at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and was co-produced, mixed and engineered by Peter Katis and Gareth Jones. Its title is taken from a repeated line in the song "NYC".
Arctic Monkeys are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 2002. The group consists of lead singer Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, guitarist Jamie Cook and bassist Nick O'Malley. Former bassist Andy Nicholson left the band in 2006 shortly after their debut album was released.
Smoke Ring for My Halo is the fourth studio album by American indie rock musician Kurt Vile, released on March 8, 2011 on Matador. A deluxe edition was released in November 2011, including the subsequent EP, So Outta Reach (2011). The album was produced by John Agnello, Kurt Vile and his backing band, the Violators. Regarding the album's lyrical content, Vile stated: "It’s just me and those thoughts you have late at night when nobody is around. It is more a feeling than a statement – a general wandering feeling. It’s kind of a wandering record."
Wakin on a Pretty Daze is the fifth studio album by American indie rock musician Kurt Vile, released on April 9, 2013, on Matador Records. Produced by both John Agnello and Kurt Vile & the Violators, the album is the first not to feature contributions from long-time collaborator and former bandmate Adam Granduciel.
Silence Yourself is the debut studio album by the English post-punk band Savages, released on 6 May 2013 on Matador Records and Pop Noire, a label owned by vocalist Jehnny Beth. It was nominated for the 2013 Mercury Prize.
Car Seat Headrest is an American indie rock band formed in Leesburg, Virginia, and currently located in Seattle, Washington. The band consists of Will Toledo, Ethan Ives, Seth Dalby (bass), and Andrew Katz.
Teens of Style is the 10th studio album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, released on October 30, 2015. It was their first album recorded for Matador Records. Intended as an introductory compilation for new listeners, it features reworked, newly recorded versions of songs originally released between 2010 and 2012, with the addition of one new composition.
Twin Fantasy, later re-titled Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror), is the sixth solo album by American indie rock musician Will Toledo, under his alias Car Seat Headrest. Since its release in 2011, the album has amassed an online cult following, with the internet forums 4chan and Reddit playing major roles in the album's success. A re-recording of the album was released via Matador Records on February 16, 2018.
Human Performance is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Parquet Courts, released on April 8, 2016 on Rough Trade Records.
Big Thief is an American indie folk band based in Brooklyn, New York. Its members are Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums).
"Ivy" is a song by American R&B singer Frank Ocean, released as a part of his 2016 studio album Blonde. The minimalistic guitar-driven song embodies indie rock, avant-R&B and guitar pop, with its nostalgic lyrics exploring memories of a lost love. Ocean wrote the song with frequent collaborator Malay Ho, and produced it with Om'Mas Keith and former Vampire Weekend multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, the latter of whom also arranged the track. Guitars on the track are performed by a musician credited as Fish. The track appeared on multiple year-end lists, with some critics describing it as amongst Ocean's best work, and charted at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, despite not being released as a single.
Lucy Elizabeth Dacus is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Dacus attracted attention with her debut album No Burden (2016), which led to a deal with Matador Records. Historian, her second album, was released in 2018 to critical acclaim. Home Video, her third studio album, was released in 2021.
Snail Mail is the American indie rock solo project of guitarist and singer-songwriter Lindsey Erin Jordan. Originally from Ellicott City, Maryland, Jordan first performed as Snail Mail live in 2015 at the age of 15, and attracted attention with the EP Habit in 2016. After signing with Matador Records, Snail Mail released her debut studio album, Lush (2018), to critical acclaim. In 2021, Snail Mail followed up with her second album, Valentine, to further critical recognition.
Twin Fantasy (Face to Face) is the 12th studio album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, released on February 16, 2018. It is a complete full band re-recording and reworking of the band's sixth album, Twin Fantasy, by then-solo artist Will Toledo, released in 2011.
Marauder is the sixth studio album by American rock band Interpol. It was released on August 24, 2018, by Matador Records. The album was produced by Dave Fridmann and recorded at his studio, Tarbox Road, in Cassadaga, New York from December 6, 2017 through April 18, 2018.
Commit Yourself Completely is the second live album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest, released digitally on June 17, 2019 by Matador Records. It compiles songs performed by the band on tour in 2018 across the United States, United Kingdom and France, with the members of the Naked Giants playing with the group in a seven-person lineup. The indie rock album includes live renditions of songs from Teens of Denial (2016) and Twin Fantasy, as well as a cover of Frank Ocean's "Ivy". It was promoted by a video of the band's performance of "Fill in the Blank" at Newport Music Hall.
Making a Door Less Open is the 13th album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest. It was released on May 1, 2020, via Matador Records. The album serves as the band's fourth for the label and the second to consist of newly written material.
"Hollywood" is a song by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest. It was released on April 16, 2020, through Matador Records, as the third single from their twelfth studio album, Making a Door Less Open (2020). The song was written and produced by bandleader Will Toledo and drummer Andrew Katz.
Valentine is the second studio album by American indie rock musician Snail Mail, released on November 5, 2021, by Matador Records.
American rock band Car Seat Headrest has released 12 studio albums, 5 extended plays, 4 live albums, and 2 compilation albums. Starting in 2010, band self-released its first eight albums on the platform Bandcamp. In 2015, the band signed to Matador Records, and has since released four albums through the label.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)