The Scholars

While Toledo’s own coming-of-age songwriting that propelled Car Seat Headrest to fame isn’t present, with no anthemic choruses about struggling with depression, ill-fated romances, or coming to terms with your identity, we instead get a better gift: an invitation into Toledo’s fantasy world, full of magic and mystery. You’ll want to linger in it a bit longer and get lost in it.

The Scholars doesn’t reinvent Car Seat Headrest so much as it lays them bare.

Whether you prefer to dissect its lyrics and backstory or let the music wash over you, The Scholars asks for and rewards attention. Like a friendship (or band, real or otherwise), it blossoms over time.

This tight-knit collective leans into what they do best: take listeners on a messy but enlightening rock and roll journey.

The immediacy of the comparably short and sharp first half (at least in track number alone) gives way to a sprawling crescendo of epics – not least the near-19 minute ‘Planet Desperation’; a track as camp as it is masterful, with more than a gentle nod to the 1960s and ‘70s.

It's the jubilant reach and dynamite in the details that make The Scholars a rock opera worthy of the form. [Jun 2025, p.85]

Connections between the literary work and the actual song lyrics may only exist in the teeming brain of Toledo. But the good news for the common listener is that as albums with librettos go, this one is surprisingly easy to bang your way through.

There are enough catchy hooks and eclectic compositions to keep things interesting, though it never reaches the high levels of Twin Fantasy. The Scholars is a bit of an overreach, with puzzling narratives following too many characters to track without help, but it’s impressive for its ambition and giant swing at transcendent art.

There are only a handful of pop albums that can sustain epic run times through the power of really, really good songs alone (Car Seat Headrest’s Teens Of Denial is one of them). There’s a story for those who want it and some delightful songcraft for those who don’t. Not a bad compromise.

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. [Jun 2025, p.70]

You have to be willing to get a little big in the britches to make a rock opera, and on balance, The Scholars is closer to the Who’s Quadrophenia than Yes’s Tales from Topographic Oceans on the frippery scale. It’s also a critical reminder that rock ‘n’ roll can and often should be an audacious thing.