#223 (of 365) "Fill in the Blank" Car Seat Headrest

Car Seat Headrest had a massive output of music from 2011 to 2016 or so, with 7 full lengths or EPs put out, culminating in the breakthrough mainstream success of Teens of Denial, which featured both this song as its opener, and two other tracks on this countdown and is pretty close to a perfect album throughout. The other earlier output also features a ton of great music (some clunkers, of course, but that's to be expected from a mostly solo/self-recorded output in those early years). And from the time I first heard them (maybe 2015?) through the amazing re-recording of Twin Fantasy, one of the early raw efforts in 2011 turned into a masterpiece in 2018, I basically had Car Seat Headrest on repeat in my Apple Music (then iTunes) pretty much every day all the time. Then Covid hit. Making a Door Less Open, their latest, came out in May of that year, and while solid, was not as good as their previous 3 albums, I can say pretty objectively, and Covid messed lead singer Will Toledo up, I think. There was (before Covid) a side project that diverged wildly from CSH sounds that resulted in him wearing a gas mask on stage during Covid shows and then a furry costume, and he came out publicly as having contracted Covid on tour (which resulted in shows being cancelled), having long Covid, which curtailed (ended?) performances other than those outside (I saw them in Prospect Park maybe 2 years ago? -- they haven't been here since), and this year, when they finally put out a new record, it was, umm... even more disappointing. A couple decent tracks, but nothing that would make this list, which is fine, except this is one of my favorite bands, in its prime, and... sigh.

Anyway, really loved when this album came out. Was brilliant.

"Fill in the Blank" - Car Seta Headrest // Teens of Denial (2016)