Car Seat Headrest: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

February 8, 2016 by BOB BOILEN

For a singer who's sought privacy in the parking lot of a Target so he could record vocals in the backseat of his car, Will Toledo hasn't been shy about sharing his work. By age 23, he'd already released a dozen albums. Toledo, who records under the name Car Seat Headrest, is prolific but never conventional.

He performed this Tiny Desk Concert mostly solo — with occasional input from his nearby Leesburg, Va., friends and Seattle bandmates — for a set that represents only a tiny sliver of what you'll find on a Car Seat Headrest album. Those records can be filled with rich textures, chaos and harmony, sometimes in the same few minutes. But what you're about to discover here is a wordsmith with a vision, wrapping his faults and frailties in a DIY sound that's still finely crafted.

Teens Of Style is available now:

Set List:
"The Drum"
"Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales"
"Sober To Death"

Credits:
Producers: Bob Boilen, Morgan Walker, Niki Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Morgan Walker, Niki Walker, Julia Reihs; Photo: Jun Tsuboike/NPR.

[traefolla]

Who needs a full band when you can just have your friends sit next to you and look emo.

[diend]

This is the highest quality recording of car seat headrest I've ever heard.

[vecernicek]

I think the drummer took the invitation to a Tiny Desk Concert too literally.

[ropikki]

Saw the timestamp and assumed it was one song

[epicbeetrootmaster]

Thinking about how at the time of this recording, this was probably the highest quality recording of Sober To Death is hilarious to me.

[Schislmadisl]

Can't believe that he's only 9 years old! Too crazy! At his age I couldn't even walk, wow!

[o.brocklehurst]

car seat headrest got me thru a bad time in my life by making it worse

[theoschommer]

The thing that's truly great about Will is he does what he wants to do. He doesn't care how cracky and off his falsetto sounds. He just fills his music with his true emotion.

[BB-kzsd]

His vocals are so gorgeously raw, how could anyone dislike them?

[spicytuna]

Will: (pouring his heart out over his guitar)
Andrew: "Hey, Will, if you don't mind, I'm gonna do a _little_ drumming."

[lilysmith]

I personally love Will's voice, the voice cracks add character to his voice. This kind of low-fi music is meant to have imperfections and rough edges. If you don't like that stuff of course you won't like car seat headrest.

[jeffjohns]

Driving home from work on empty city streets crying like a baby because of how Will belts out with so much emotion “it doesn’t have to be like thiiii-i-i-sss, ” in killer whales. Contemplating how I became the one thing I told myself I never would for the last 8 months. A heroin addict. It really doesn’t have to be like this. And I plan to try and get clean for the 2nd time tomorrow. God help me this time.

[Intheflesh]

This was recorded the same day I failed my 8th grade math test.

[JensBogena]

Never knew McLovin was such a gifted musician!

[whitesharkies]

drunk drivers is one of the most beautiful songs i've ever heard

[jacksonmasco]

can we just appreciate the audio quality from this one single mic...

[melissaalexandra]

A song called the drum and my guy shows up with this...

[maxfork]

The part when all of the band is singing Sober to Death is legitimately beautiful and makes me cry gamer tears

[audioa]

"hey I brought some friends... hey guys just sit here while I play... it won't be awkward"

[mglenwright]

For all of you folks out there who don't write or play music, I think it's worth mentioning how awesome it feels to belt out like Will does at the end of Killer Whales, especially when it's a melody you've written. It may seem over the top and raw, but frankly, it feels so good to just let it go and belt along with the music, there's really nothing quite like it. There are two general buckets that you can put individual songs into: songs written for others, and songs written for yourself/not for others. Will belting it out like that makes me think that song was definitely more the latter.