Coming off their latest full-length/rock opera, The Scholars, Car Seat Headrest is thinking big in terms of concept and volume on “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man).”
After a health scare linked to long COVID for lead singer Will Toledo, their follow-up to 2020’s Making a Door Less Open is similarly experimental in its approach. While that album found Car Seat Headrest turning to electronic production, “The Catastrophe” is the equivalent of a renaissance fair in sound and liveliness, especially given the track’s many allusions to classic rockers of the ’70s.
The song, part of a broader narrative told throughout the tracklist, goes in a folk-rock direction that lets the band trade heart-shattering personal stories for theatrical fun that satirizes what it means to form a band. Uniquely, Toledo steps away from his usual first-person POV in favor of taking on multiple parts in “The Catastrophe,” tied together by his familiar croaky voice.
With “The Catastrophe” and The Scholars at large, Car Seat Headrest’s self-reinvention shows their longevity. What began as a lo-fi solo project from Toledo continues to surprise at each new turn, solidifying the group as one of indie rock’s most forward-thinking.
See Car Seat Headrest in LA at the Greek Theatre on Aug. 8.
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Listen to “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)” the new single from Car Seat Headrest below!
