Albums to watch

The Scholars

Car Seat Headrest

The Scholars

Fifth album and first in five years from the Will Toledo-led low-fi indie pop band

ADM rating[?]

7.5

Label
Matador
UK Release date
02/05/2025
US Release date
02/05/2025
  1. 10.0 |   Spill Magazine

    A cinematic exploration of maximalism that will appeal to any fan of rock operas
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  2. 9.0 |   All Music

    Toledo is young enough that it's premature to call The Scholars a masterpiece, though it's unquestionably his finest work to date and one of the best albums of 2025
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  3. 8.5 |   Paste Magazine

    After their divisive 2020 LP Making a Door Less Open, the Seattle band returns with their best new album in almost a decade
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  4. 8.0 |   DIY

    A psychedelic, classic rock mashup that absorbs and expands on the sound Car Seat Headrest have claimed as their own
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  5. 8.0 |   Mojo

    It's the jubilant reach and dynamite in the details that make The Scholars a rock opera worthy of the form. Print edition only

  6. 8.0 |   Dork

    Car Seat Headrest truly embraced the epic here; and it’s paid off in spades
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  7. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    On The Scholars, Car Seat Headrest take listeners on a messy but enlightening rock and roll journey that will appeal to even those who have tuned out
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  8. 7.5 |   Northern Transmissions

    wNot every moment hits, and some narrative threads drift off without resolution. But The Scholars is a strong swing at a genre that often collapses under its own weight
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  9. 7.0 |   Far Out

    n a sheer auditory level, it sounds like a time-warp of the last 25 years of indie music packed into one; an enjoyable listen, but with none of the narrative imprint
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  10. 7.0 |   Uncut

    Packed with musical and literary references, there's a lot to unpick, but tracks like "The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)" show the band still have a knack for pop hooks, albeit not as lo-fi as before. Print edition only

  11. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Will Toledo supersizes his ambition without scrimping on indie-rock kicks
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  12. 7.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The album is a critical reminder that rock ‘n’ roll can and often should be an audacious thing
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  13. 7.0 |   Spectrum Culture

    If The Scholars falls short of greatness, it does so swinging for the fences
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  14. 6.5 |   Pitchfork

    In aiming to write a rock opera for the playlist era, Will Toledo crafts some of his band’s most inspired compositions—but weighs them down with a confusing plot and endless stylistic changeups
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  15. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    There is no obvious story-line, but more of a tortuous and poetically-inspired journey
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