All I knew about Car Seat Headrest was that they/he was getting some love from KCRW and the name was fairly ridiculous. It could have been some indie rock that might have pulled me in at some point but I didn’t necessarily have a connection to it save from noticing they were playing it on the radio when they’d say they had. This was when indie was so obscure that any success no matter how minor was a big success, even if it didn’t mean that they could get out so far but they could fill a venue most of the way. So seeing them was a show that wasn’t sold out when schedules aligned. Just a Thursday night out with Tana and the drinkers, and drinks consumed, but not too much to get too rowdy, since that wasn’t the vibe anyway. It wasn’t too exciting, but it didn’t try to be, as the music was more grainy than peppy. Introducing a Leonard Cohen cover as an opener was a nice surprise (as a tribute after the legend’s passing or just a respectful part of the set), even better if it had been a more familiar song, but it was a promise of some pleasant, smart tunes ahead (from their newest album, Teens of Denial), even if they were forgettable later. And so it was a night at the indie-rock show in the indie venue and a stop along the way as the act got bigger (if slightly, if at all), but we can say we saw them when they soundtracked a night out and we could focus on our drinking.
Car Seat Headrest’s set-list:
“Field Commander Cohen“ (Leonard Cohen cover)
“Cosmic Hero“ (with Velvet Underground’s "Sweet Jane" interpolation)
“Fill in the Blank“
“Vincent“
“America (Never Been)“
“Unforgiving Girl (She's Not An)“
“Sober to Death“
“Strangers“
“Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales“
“Destroyed by Hippie Powers“
“Five Years“ (David Bowie cover)
“Connect the Dots (The Saga of Frank Sinatra)” (With Them’s "Gloria" outro)
