By: Sal Farias
A review of the highlights of Car Seat Headrest’s album, Twin Fantasy.
This album by indie rock band Car Seat Headrest is a beautiful, emotional, and raw piece of work written by 17-year-old Will Toledo.
To some, it may be a hard listen if you’re not used to sharp, harsh, imperfect vocals. In some sections of the song, Beach Life-in-Death, the mixing can be a little grating, but if you can look past that, it’s 100% worth a listen.
It especially could hit hard for queer teenagers, because the album is about the romantic relationship of two gay teens. Many queer kids find it hard to find partners due to how difficult it is to find other people like them. They often attach themselves to the first person in their lives that show them romantic attraction, and it can be hard to let go and move on. This album shows the struggles of being in a relationship like this, and a brief showcase of the aftermath, displayed in Twin Fantasy (Those Boys).
It has a lot of atmospheric reverbed guitar, mostly highlighted in the song High to Death. This track is reminiscent of the Cocteau Twins, She Will Destroy You. If you enjoy music like that, I highly recommend Twin Fantasy.
Although Car Seat Headrest (CSH) was a solo artist at first, composed entirely of Will Toledo, it became a band 4 years after the release of Twin Fantasy (Mirror to Mirror). In 2018, the band released a recording of the 2011 record, renaming it Twin Fantasy (Face to Face).
CSH fans have come to a conclusion that the 2018 version is better, I personally believe that the 2011 version has much more emotion and rawness.
Even if you can’t personally relate to the struggles of the album and its struggles like me, I still think it’s worth a listen. Toledo does a great job of conveying his emotions and anger through his music, especially in the 10 minute track, Famous Prophets (Minds). This song is a stirring piece of work full of rage, passion, and yearning. Although a lot of people may be intimidated by its long run time, it is essential to understanding the album as a whole, and it is definitely worth listening to.
Twin Fantasy (Those Boys), is a gut-ripping closer to a near-perfect album. The relationship that we are seeing has been brought to a close, and we hear the somber, quiet song to end this wonderful album.
Sal Farias
Sal Farias ('25) is a writer for entertainment. (he/him)
Tags: album review, music, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism