REVIEW: Car Seat Headrest—The Scholars (2025)

Oh no! They've done a mad concept album! But wait! It's really great!

I guess the benefit of being away for five years is there is plenty of time to ponder endlessly over your ambitious comeback. In this instance, they’ve woven quite the concept album, more of which in a minute.

Going back many years, I caught the band in one of my favourite ever venues, The Hope & Ruin, down in Brighton. Much of that night is a blur after all this time, but one thing I do remember with crystal clarity was them doing one of their earliest songs, and it going on for ages—like 15 minutes or something. Not only was it was a total epic, it was like a masterclass in how to pull off a really long song while still keeping it engaging.

This is relevant, because on the 9-track, 70 minute album that is The Scholars, four of the songs are absolute whoppers, including one 18 minute track, and two over the 10 minute mark. That kind of information might instantly put off all bar the hardcore fans, but I’m here to scream hey! Come back! Because Car Seat Headrest have a happy knack of holding your interest even when they are going off on one.

And even if you’re just not in the mood, they can still pull out a snappy pop-rock banger in the shape of The Catastrophe that gets to the point and rattles along happily even when it goes off piste for a bit. They do that thing bands usually do live—knowing when to stretch a song out, and then resolve it satisfyingly, before going off on another little sojourn into the sun.

Now, talking of resolving, I should come back to that part about it being a concept album. Boy is it a concept album. So much so it actually announces on the front cover that it comes with a 28-page booklet, which goes as far as illustrating and explaining every song. This is all great if you really need to know what Will Toledo is singing about, but, for my money, the strength of the album is that you don’t need to buy into the grander concept to enjoy it. For this is a fine selection of songs that stand individually on their own merits.

If you really do rely on the full package to get into an album, then here’s the brief: it’s essentially devised like a play, set in the fictional Parnassus University, with each song focused on specific characters.

The impressively illustrated accompanying booklet sets out the song lyrics like they’re reading lines in the play. There’s too much to go into for the sake of my own sanity (and, err, a job to get on with) but they go pretty deep here. Honestly, if they hadn’t insisted upon putting the booklet in the package, most would just enjoy the excellent sequence of tunes here, and not think about it too hard.

I know some people get really annoyed when song lyrics don’t pass muster (looking at you, Ed), but for those of us more immersed in the tunes who steep in the lyrics later on, you’ll be just fine. The most important takeaway, is that this is a fine comeback, with some of their best ever tunes.