During Car Seat Headrest’s meteoric 2016 ascent, various fans and critics tried to pin down the band’s sonic DNA. An obvious touchstone was Matador Records mid-90s golden era—the hushed/clanking dynamic of Yo La Tengo and the absurdist suburban ennui of Pavement are both evident—but there was also strands of polished ‘90s alternative rock in the album’s clean and at-times intricate production. “Sounds of Denial”—the Spotify playlist that band braintrust Will Toledo posted around the time of the album’s release—features “songs that are responsible in some way for the creation of my new album Teens of Denial.” It’s a surprisingly broad playlist that leans very heavily on the rock canon, beginning with The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and continuing with tracks by the likes of Queen, Nirvana, The Clash, and Rod Stewart. You’d like to imagine your indie rock heroes being inspired by something a bit more obscure and idiosyncratic than “Maggie May,” but there’s also something oddly appropriate about it. After all, much of the charm of Teens of Denial was a sense of teenage nostalgia, and the album perfectly captured the boredom of hazy drug-fueled days spent listening to classic rock radio and gazing into the abyss of disposable relationships and strip malls. This playlist captures that, to some extent, even if it’s largely inessential listening.
