Teens of Denial
| Teens of Denial | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Car Seat Headrest | ||||
| Released | May 20, 2016 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 70:07 | |||
| Label | Matador | |||
| Producer | Steve Fisk | |||
| Car Seat Headrest chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Teens of Denial | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 86/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The A.V. Club | A |
| Mojo | |
| The New Zealand Herald | |
| NME | 4/5 |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.5/10 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | 7/10 |
| Uncut | 8/10 |
| Vice | A |
Teens of Denial is the thirteenth studio album by American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest. It was released on May 20, 2016 by Matador Records, serving as the band's second album for the label and the first to consist of newly recorded material.
In a November 2015 interview with Billboard, Car Seat Headrest frontman Will Toledo stated that the band's 2015 album Teens of Style would be followed by Teens of Denial, which he indicated would be their first to feature an outside producer and a "totally different" sound. On February 23, 2016, the lead single from Teens of Denial, "Vincent", was released, along with an accompanying music video. On March 24, Toledo announced a May 20 release date for the album and premiered one of its tracks, "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales".
On May 13, 2016, Matador Records recalled the entire initial compact disc and vinyl print runs of the album following the denial of permission to use lyrics from The Cars' "Just What I Needed" in the song "Just What I Needed/Not Just What I Needed". It was the first time in the label's history that they had recalled a record. The recalled copies were destroyed in the label's warehouse using a garbage truck compactor.
Car Seat Headrest and Matador Records had believed that they had secured the proper approval from The Cars' publisher to include the interpolation of "Just What I Needed" in "Just What I Needed/Not Just What I Needed" and had moved forward with pressing copies of Teens of Denial with the song. However, on May 10, 2016, Cars singer and songwriter Ric Ocasek denied permission to use elements of "Just What I Needed" after discovering that Toledo had changed a single line from the original lyrics.
Toledo recorded a new version of the song, titled "Not What I Needed", which removed the elements from "Just What I Needed" and was inserted in the revised track list of the album. The digital release of Teens of Denial was unaffected by the recall and included the new song, but the physical release was delayed until July.
Teens of Denial holds a score of 86 out of 100 on the online review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". David Brusie of The A.V. Club wrote that the repeated "exercise in tension and release" throughout the record "is essential to Teens of Denial's blistering greatness", concluding that "Toledo seems to be saying, buckle in; I'm taking you somewhere exciting. Trust him." Mark Deming of AllMusic found "real and powerful wit" in the album's songs and stated that Toledo "has created something like a novel after previously offering us short stories, and it's a piece of rough-hewn brilliance." Jeremy Gordon of Pitchfork Media noted that "even with the bigger budget and brighter environs, Toledo's underriding DIY sensibility comes through."NME critic Alex Flood called Teens of Denial "the work of a precocious talent."
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