Car Seat Headrest | Artist

Car Seat Headrest is an American indie rock band formed 2010 in Leesburg, Virginia, and currently located in Seattle, Washington. The band consists of Will Toledo (vocals, guitar, piano), Ethan Ives (guitar, bass, backing vocals), Seth Dalby (bass), and Andrew Katz (drums, percussion). Beginning as a solo recording project by Toledo in 2010, Car Seat Headrest self-released 12 albums on Bandcamp before signing to Matador Records in 2015. Stylistically, the band's sound has been described as "moody and introspective lo-fi pop tunes that are melodic but structurally ambitious at once." The first album to receive widespread attention was 2011's My Back is Killing me Baby which has been described as "lo-fi catchy noise pop". The same year saw the release of Toledo's critically acclaimed album Twin Fantasy which was re-recorded and re-released by Matador in 2018 titled as Twin Fantasy (Face to Face). Other outstanding albums include Monomania (2012), Nervous Young Man (2013) and Teens of Denial (2016) all of which are considerably more hi-fi than the earlier work. Also recommended is the 2014 promotional release How to Leave Town. Guitarist Ethen Ives has also released several solo albums under the name Toy Bastard, including the outstanding recent release The War (2024). In interview, when asked about his musical influences, Toledo surprisingly said he "grew up listening to the Beatles, the Who, the Kinks and the Beach Boys – not Pavement, Sonic Youth or Dinosaur Jr - The reason I wanted to play guitar was so I could do stuff like on those records". Will Toledo's work is notable for his large online cult following. He chose the name "Car Seat Headrest" as he would often record the vocals to his early albums in the back seat of his family's car for privacy.

Artist Website: carseatheadrest.com

Featured Albums: Car Seat Headrest

Related Artists: Will Toledo, Nervous Young Men, Toy Bastard

Collections: Movers Shakers