Car Seat Headrest's long lost cult album recently got re-recorded -
mostly note for note, with some rethinkings of the spoken word
space-fillers. It's a messy record in either form, calling to mind,
strangely specifically, It Was Hot We Stayed in the Water, in its
particular rejection of sensible pacing in the name of deeply felt
emotions beyond expression in standard forms.
Some of
it's stunning. My Boys is a a soaring classic, Stop Smoking's a dagger
of simplicity, and Cute Thing's a ripper you'd never be sorry to hear
live. The 16-minute Famous Prophets is rewarding in the buildup and the
payoff.
But man it's a long, weird meander (the other
long song, Beach Life-In-Death is a mess, a disjointed pile of
half-baked fragments). Face to Face (2018) cuts some of the most
embarrassing spoken word bits, but those were arguably, in their own
uncomfortable way, some of Mirror to Mirror's (2011) highlights. The
remake's production's undeniably a better listen, and I don't know that
I'd make it through the original again -- but if I had to pick one to
exist, I'd let Mirror to Mirror's bizarro boldness live forever. A
strange project from a brilliant kid//adult, a stark illustration of how
you can't have it both ways when it comes to sincerity 4/5
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