Listen, and I think you'll agree that Car Seat Headrest, founded by Will Toledo, is quintessentially experimental & pop, and the band is repeatedly original over a wide range of songs. Just a few examples are linked below.

And for those of you hanging around Stebbins Hall, U.C. Berkeley 1978-80 and might have known Ben Fisk, his brother Steve Fisk produced their recent "Teens of Denial" album.

12 songs are suggested below, and some top songs (as ranked by Spotify back sometime in 2017) are linked, with lyrics provided, plus video(s) .... below.

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Steve Fisk, Olympia WA, Fall 1980

Lyrics from album Teens of Denial, (Produced By Steve Fisk)

1 -  Fill in the Blank, by Car Seat Headrest

[Verse 1]

I’m so sick of (fill in the blank)

Accomplish more, accomplish nothing

If I were split in two I would just take my fists

So I could beat up the rest of me

[Chorus]

You have no right to be depressed

You haven’t tried hard enough to like it

Haven’t seen enough of this world yet

But it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts

Well stop your whining, try again

No one wants to cause you pain

They’re just trying to let some air in

But you hold your breath, you hold your breath, you hold it

Hold my breath, I hold my breath, I hold it

[Verse 2]

I’ve known for a long time

I’m not getting what I want out of people

It took me a long time

To figure out I don’t know what I want

So you’ll ask "why?" and there will be no answer

Then you’ll ask for how long? and there will be no answer

Then you’ll ask "what can I do?" and there’ll be no answer

And eventually you will shut up

[Chorus]

You have no right to be depressed

You haven’t tried hard enough to like it

Haven’t seen enough of this world yet

But it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts

Well stop your whining, try again

No one wants to cause you pain

They’re just trying to let some air in

But you hold your breath, you hold your breath, you hold it

Hold my breath, I hold my breath, I hold it

[Bridge]

I get signs

From the cops

Saying “stay the fuck down”

I get signs

From the audience

Saying “stay the fuck down”

I get signs

From God

Saying “stay the fuck down”

[Outro]

I’ve got a right to be depressed

I've given every inch I had to fight it

I have seen too much of this world, yes

And it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts

And I will never see the light

That I’ve seen shining in your eyes

You just want to see me naked

So I'll hold my breath, I hold my breath, I hold it

Hold my breath, I hold my breath, I hold my breath, I hold my breath

I hold my breath, I hold my breath, I hold my breath

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2 -  Drunk Drivers Killer Whales, by Car Seat Headrest

[Intro]

In the backseat of my heart

My love tells me I'm a mess

I couldn't get the car to start

I left my keys somewhere in the mess

[Verse 1]

It comes and goes in plateaus

One month later I'm a fucking pro

My parents would be proud

Or fall asleep on the floor

Forget what happened in the morning

There are notes in your handwriting

But you can't make it out

[Chorus 1]

We are not a proud race

It's not a race at all

We're just trying

I'm only trying to get home

Drunk drivers, drunk drivers

This is not a good thing

I don't mean to rationalize

Or try and explain it away

It's not okay

Drunk drivers, drunk drivers

[Verse 2]

It's too late to articulate it

That empty feeling

You share the same fate as the people you hate

You build yourself up against others' feelings

And it left you feeling empty as a car coasting downhill

I have become such a negative person

It was all just an act

It was all so easily stripped away

[Pre-Chorus]

But if we learn how to live like this

Maybe we can learn how to start again

Like a child who's never done wrong

Who hasn't taken that first step

[Chorus 2]

We are not a proud race

It's not a race at all

We're just trying

I'm only trying to get home

Drunk drivers, drunk drivers

Put it out of your mind

And perish the thought

There's no comfort in responsibility

Drunk drivers, drunk drivers

[Chorus 3]

It doesn't have to be like this

It doesn't have to be like this

It doesn't have to be like this

Killer whales, killer whales

It doesn't have to be like this

It doesn't have to be like this

It doesn't have to be like this

[Verse 3]

Here's that voice in your head

Giving you shit again

But you know he loves you

And he doesn't mean to cause you pain

Please listen to him

It's not too late

Turn off the engine

Get out of the car

And start to walk

[Bridge]

Drunk drivers

Drunk drivers

Drunk drivers

Drunk drivers

[Chorus 3]

It doesn't have to be like this

It doesn't have to be like this

It doesn't have to be like this

Killer whales, killer whales

It doesn't have to be like this

It doesn't have to be like this

It doesn't have to be like this

[Outro]

Whales...

Whales... ah yeah yeah...

Whales... oh ho ho ho... oh oh

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3 -  Destroyed by Hippie Powers, by Car Seat Headrest

I am freaking out in my mind

In a house that isn't mine

My end goal isn't clear

Should not have had that last beer

It' s more than what you bargained for, but it's a little less than what you paid for

My bowtie's come undone, my microphone hangs limp on the mic stand

Tell my mother I'm going home, I have been destroyed by hippie powers

Tell my mother I'm going home, I have been destroyed by hippie powers

That guy I kinda hate is here

Shouldn't have had that last…whoo! Hit of DMT!

What happened to that chubby little kid who smiled so much and loved the Beach Boys?

What happened is I killed that fucker and I took his name and I got new glasses

Tell my mother I'm going home, I have been destroyed by hippie powers

Tell my mother I'm going home, I have been destroyed by hippie powers

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4 -  Vincent, by Car Seat Headrest

And half the time I want to go home

And half the time I want to go home

For the past year I’ve been living in a town

That gets a lot of tourists in the summer months

They come and they stay for a couple days

But hey, I’m living here every day

I don’t need the complications

I’m just in it for the beating

It’s almost a point of pride

They say that it doesn’t happen that often

Pure sadism

Pure sadism

Pure sadism

Pure sadism

I find it harder to speak

When someone else is listening

In the back of a medicine cabinet

You can find your life story

And your future in the side effects

I haven’t played guitar in months

My strings all broke

They got a portrait by Van Gogh

On the Wikipedia page

For clinical depression

Well, it helps to describe it

Yeah, it helps to describe it

Yeah, it helps to describe it

Yeah, it helps to describe it

Yeah, it helps to describe it...

I don’t have the strength

(I don’t have the time)

I poured myself a drink

(I told myself a lie)

You know I’ve worried

(You know I’ve tried)

Don’t you know I’m not strong?

(Don’t you know I’m not kind?)

Someone’s getting lucky

(Someone’s calling the cops)

Someone takes me away

(Someone make it all stop)

I had a bright tomorrow

(I spent it all today)

Now I am silent at last

Now I have nothing to say

If I’m being honest with myself

I haven’t been honest with myself

It must be hard to speak in a foreign language

Intoxicado

Intoxicado

Intoxicado

Intoxicado

Intoxicado

Intoxicado

I find it easier to sleep

(And half the time I want to go home)

When I'm not holding the noise machine

(And half the time I want to go home)

And half the time, I’m like THIS -

They’ll send in Matt. CAPtain Trash!

I don’t have the strength

(I don’t have the time)

I poured myself a drink

(I told myself a lie)

You know I’ve worried

(You know I’ve tried)

Don’t you know I’m not strong?

(Don’t you know I’m not kind?)

Someone’s getting lucky

(Someone’s calling the cops)

Someone takes me away

(Someone makes it all stop)

I had a bright tomorrow

(I spent it all today)

Now I am silent at last

Now I have nothing to say

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5 -  (Joe Gets Kicked Out of School For Using) Drugs With Friends (But Says This Isn't a Problem), by Car Seat Headrest

I get to know myself every weekend and I’m weak

Hangovers feel good when I know it’s the last one

Then I feel so good that I have another one

Last Friday I took acid and mushrooms

I did not transcend, I felt like a walking piece of shit

In a stupid looking jacket

I walked around town and thought I was in Sodom

There were filthy people seeking comfort for their bodies

It was so obscene

Filled with loathing and religious fervor

I laid on my friend’s bedroom floor for an hour

And tried not to piss my pants

And then I saw Jesus

And he said

“Who are you to go against the word of my father? And

Who are you? the scum of the earth”

No we are just, we are just, we are just teens of style

Oh we are just, we are just, we are just teens of style

There were people getting drunk, there were people getting high

They were falling to pieces right before my eyes

And I said “mmhmm” a lot (mmhmm)

And there was one guy there who kept asking me how does it feel (are you sure)

And I didn’t even know how to begin to answer that question (you don't want to talk about what you're experiencing)

So I just said I don't want to talk about it (and I just said no)

So there I was, just another shitbag civilian

Afraid of the cops when I was outside, afraid of my friends when I was inside

And I grew tired of the scene

And then my dad showed up

And he was like

“Who are you to go against the word of our fathers?”

“Who are you? the scum of the earth”

No we are just, we are just we are just teens of style

No we are just we are just we are just victims of the contemporary style

Yes we are just we are just we are just we are just going along with the modern style

Now everybody, everybody, everybody’s going along with the modern style

Let’s do it together

It goes:

Drugs are better, drugs are better with

Friends are better, friends are better with

Drugs are better, drugs are better with

Friends are better, friends are better with

Drugs are better, drugs are better with

Friends are better, friends are better with

Drugs are better, drugs are better with

Friends are better, friends are better with

Drugs are better than friends

Are better than drugs

Are better than friends

Are better than drugs

Are better than friends

Are better than drugs

Are better than friends

Are better than—

Drugs are better, drugs are better with

Friends are better, friends are better with

Drugs are better, drugs are better with

Friends are better, friends are better with

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6 -  Something Soon

Car Seat Headrest

Album My Back is Killing Me Baby

[Verse 1]

Biting my clothes to keep from screaming

Taking pills to keep from dreaming

I want to break something important

I want to kick my dad in the shins

I was referring to the present in past tense

It was the only way that I could survive it

I want to close my head in the car door

I want to sing this song like I'm dying

[Chorus]

Heavy boots on my throat I need

I need something soon, I need something soon

I can't talk to my folks I need

I need something soon, I need something soon

All of my fingers are froze I need

I need something soon, I need something soon

Only one change of clothes I need

I need something soon, I need something soon

My head is my head is my head is

[Verse 2]

Stay inside all this winter

Filling out forms from a busted printer

I want to talk like Raymond Carver

(an advertisement cries out)

I want to turn down the goddamn TV

("He should have gone to Jared's")

Binging on the latest sitcom

Feeling guilty every second it's on

I want put my foot through a window

(I document my mind loss)

I want to romanticize my headfuck

(through instruments of wordplay)

[Chorus]

Heavy boots on my throat I need

I need something soon, I need something soon

I can't talk to my folks I need

I need something soon, I need something soon

All of my fingers are froze I need

I need something soon, I need something soon

Only one change of clothes I need

I need something soon, I need something soon

My head is my head is my head is

[Instrumental break]

Let's burn this house down (x a lot)

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