Commit Yourself Completely (Live Album) - Car Seat Headrest: Review
Car Seat Headrest
is the Will Toledo fronted indie rock act who took the indie world by storm in 2016 with the release of their highly anticipated Matador records debut Teens Of Denial and again in 2018 with the re-release of their critically acclaimed Bandcamp masterpiece concept album Twin Fantasy re-recorded in studio format. They announced this live album recorded from shows played in the past two years just days before it was released and dropped it without a single.
Review By Lavender:
I went to see Car Seat Headrest at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina in September of 2016 and I really enjoyed the show. It was right at the height of Teens Of Denial craze and I got to sneak right up to the front row to watch Will Toledo and company play a plethora of songs old and new. In the three years since then I have dished out praise to a handful of their new singles and the remastered version of Twin Fantasy which littered my songs of the year list with blistering youthful and conceptual rock tunes last year. While their studio efforts have been consistently sharp and engaging Commit Yourself Completely does a fantastic job of painting the bands live shows as a fantastic experience and should convince any indie rock fans to buy themselves a ticket the next time the bands in town.From the first guitar licks in the very beginning of Cosmic Hero to the loud blaring fuzz at the end of Beach Life-In-Death this live album shows off some tightly measured but excitedly performed renditions of a great selection of Car Seat Headrest tracks. The album does a fantastic job of assembling different performances from different nights into one sharp series of tunes that sounds very natural as a single cohesive listen and helps paint Will Toledo as one of indie rocks next great frontmen. The song selection is a highlight of the record that blends some Denial favorites like Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales and Fill In The Blank with a handful of amazing renditions of Fantasy tracks like Bodys and Beach Life-In-Death.
At just over an hour Commit features a number of extended versions of already timely Car Seat Headrest songs that do a great job of filling time with impressive guitar work and improvisations. Despite the tracks being recorded from separate shows Will's brief monologues and introductions between tracks make the album feel like one cohesive set from start to finish making the live album an extremely satisfying finished product to take in all at once. Highlights include a loud quiet loud rendition of Beach Life-In-Death that serves as a closer, a blistering performance of Destroyed By Hippie Powers, a great one two punch of Bodys and Cute Thing that bring the tracks youthful energy to the center of the album, and an exciting opening rendition of Cosmic Hero that starts the record off. The band consistently delivers favorites and underrated tunes with almost no duds.
There are only really two tracks that feel skippable here starting with the rendition of Drugs With Friends. Even though Will dedicating the track to all the college students in the audience is a charming element the lack of energy in the track as a studio song doesn't translate over very well between some of the more passionate and energetic songs here. Will also delivers a cover of Frank Ocean's Ivy, a concept that enticed me quite a bit before I heard the song but ultimately they stay pretty tightly to the tracks original form aside from altering some of the lyrics, and the tune just doesn't translate very well to the style of performance that the band brings to the rest of these tunes and is a lull moment towards the end of the tracklist.
Despite a few minor slip-ups Commit Yourself Completely is a fantastic set of tracks that shows off over an hour of Will Toledo and company lending their fiery and youthful energy to numerous fan favorite tracks. Best listened as one cohesive experience the album does so much right that way too many live albums miss and if not for a once in a generation live experience earlier this year on Beyonce's Homecoming this album would be far and away ahead of its contemporaries. 8.5/10
Best Track: Beach Life-In-Death
