Last month, Seattle’s Will Toledo—a.k.a. Car Seat Headrest—unveiled “Vincent,” the lead single from his second Matador album in the last year, Teens of Denial. At the time, all we knew about the record was that it would serve as Toledo’s official studio debut, his first album Teens of Style having been recorded in his bedroom.
Now, though, Matador has announced Teens of Denial’s release date (May 20) along with a new single in the official lingua franca of indie rock in 2016: the lyric video. Like “Vincent” before it, “Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales” suggests that, despite the obvious strength Toledo showed on Teens of Style, he belongs in a studio, where the power of a full band and a professional producer can both sharpen his melodic instincts. The song, Toledo says, is about “post-party melancholia. Wishing to either be a better person or care less about the whole deal. Going home alone, in poor condition.” The “killer whales” tag that pops up near the end of the song, is “inspired by Blackfish, which is a depressing film,” he adds.
As previously reported, manning the boards for Teens of Denial is Steve Fisk, who in the past has worked with fellow Pac NWers Nirvana, Screaming Trees, Soundgarden, The Halo Benders, and Damien Jurado.
You can give “Drunk Drivers / Killer Whales” a listen below, then check out Teens of Denial’s art and track list. Additionally, Toledo and his band will head out on a lengthy tour this summer; those dates are below, too.
Teens of Denial track list
“Fill In The Blank”
“Vincent”
“Destroyed By Hippie Powers”
“(Joe Gets Kicked Out of School for Using) Drugs With Friends (But Says This Isn’t a Problem)”
“Just What I Needed/Not Just What I Needed”
“Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”
“1937 State Park”
“Unforgiving Girl (She’s Not An)”
“Cosmic Hero”
“The Ballad of the Costa Concordia”
“Connect the Dots (The Saga of Frank Sinatra)”
“Joe Goes to School”
Car Seat Headrest tour dates
March
3/25 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom
3/26 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
3/27 – Vancouver, BC – The Cobalt
3/30 – Reno, NV – The Holland Project
3/31 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop
April
4/1 – Los Angeles, CA – Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
4/3 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Crepe Place
May
5/23 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
5/28 – Amsterdam, NL – London Calling
5/29 – Gent, BE – Big Next
5/30 – Paris, FR – L’Espace B
5/31 – Lyon, FR – Le Sonic
June
6/1-6/5 – Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound Festival
6/3 – Nimes, FR – Paloma
6/4 – Düdingen, CH – Bad Bonn Kilbi Festival
6/6 – Ravenna, IT – Beaches Brew
6/8 – Toulouse, FR – Le Saint des Seins
6/9 – Bordeaux, FR – Rock School Barbey
6/11 – Porto, PT – NOS Primavera Sound Porto
6/14 – Berlin, DE – Privatclub
6/17 – Dresden, DE – Beanpole
6/18 – Hamburg, DE – Molotow
6/20 – Brighton, UK – The Hope
6/21 – London, UK – 100 Club
6/22 – Manchester, UK – The Deaf Institute
6/23 – Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
6/26 – Beuningen, NL – Down The Rabbit Hole
6/28 – Lund, SE – Mejeriet
6/29 – Stockholm, SE – Debaser Strand
6/30 – Gothenberg, SE – Pustervik
July
7/16 – Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
7/22 – Seattle, WA – Capitol Hill Block Party
7/28 – Victoria, BC – Eventide Victoria
