Car Seat Headrest - Teen of Denial: Joe's Story

Ten years after Teens of Denial introduced Car Seat Headrest to the world as a full band on Matador, Will Toledo went back to the record that made his name and asked a question he had never answered: who is Joe? On the original album, "Joe" was a borrowed stand-in, a nod to the way Daniel Johnston used the name as a joking substitute for himself. Teen of Denial: Joe's Story gives that stand-in a life of his own, turning a snapshot of the end of adolescence into a fuller, more compassionate coming-of-age story.

To tell it, the band returned to the studio with Steve Fisk, the producer behind the original sessions, rewriting lyrics, reworking arrangements and cutting brand-new songs in the same spirit. "Optimistic Son" and the anthemic "Joe Drives Again" slot in among reimagined versions of favorites like "Fill in the Blank," "Vincent," "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales" and "Cosmic Hero." The sprawling guitars and cynical wit that made the first version a modern indie rock touchstone are all still here, but this time there is a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Toledo has described the result as the album Teens of Denial was always meant to be, and he hopes listeners will meet it on its own terms rather than as a remake. For longtime fans it is a fascinating conversation with one of the defining indie records of the last decade, and for newcomers it is a fresh way in.

This edition presents the album across two LPs housed in a gatefold jacket with all-new artwork.