Car Seat Headrest
War Is Coming (If You Want It)
Matador Records
Way back in the noughties, when indie bands briefly reigned supreme, pop went a bit fuzzy around the edges. The charts had to make room for a different sort of sound, one that took out the sheen and left in the scuff marks. But that was then.
Fast forward 15 years and the indie sound has all but vanished from the pop scene. Yet despite this fall from chart-topping grace, a flicker of life still remains thanks to bands like Car Seat Headrest, who have managed to marry the indie attitude with a pop sensibility.
The band’s latest single War Is Coming (If You Want It) perfectly exemplifies this mix-it-up approach to songwriting. The clanging guitars and dry-mouthed vocals are straight out of the indie textbook, while the soaring choruses and electronic beats provide the song’s pop kick.
This witches’ brew, however, doesn’t quite come together as a finished product, as you find yourself wanting a little bit less tinkering and a bit more punch. But as a slice of lo-fi pop, it gets enough of its hooks in you, and that is no bad thing. No word as yet on whether this will appear on the follow up to last year’s excellent breakthrough album Teens of Denial, but proceeds from the song go to the Transgender Law Centre when it is purchased on Bandcamp.
CHRIS PRINDIVILLE
