Author: Jernej Vene
Artist: Cars, The
Label: Hear Music
Released: 2011
Length: 39:39
Rating: 4/5
The American band The Cars had their biggest successes with the albums The Cars in 1978 and Heartbeat City six years later, which gave us the ballad Drive, a tune you surely know. In 1987 they put out Door To Door, which couldn’t land any new high chart positions. The members turned to other musical challenges, but after those first solo years a little spark supposedly flared up pretty soon, hinting at a reactivation. Ric Ocasek and Benjamin Orr were together the longest, playing in various bands on the US East Coast until they settled into the folk trio Morningwood. They put out a record that didn’t do much, but keyboardist Greg Hawkes played on the sessions, and he later became a member of The Cars. Ocasek and Orr met guitarist Elliot Easton in the lineup of Cap’n Swing, which changed its name to The Cars soon after Hawkes and drummer David Robinson joined.
There was inspiration to spare for Move Like This, and ideas too. Alongside contemporaries like Blondie and Talking Heads, you could also mention Dave Stewart, who worked in Britain and led the band Tourists, and later the famous Eurythimcs. All these musical faces owe a lot to tried-and-true masters like Velvet Undergound, David Bowie or Roxy Music. A sort of mix of darkness and artsiness, in other words. Ocasek was and still is the main songwriter, especially on the new Move Like This, and he’s got a unique, dark but still positive outlook on the world. The Cars rank among the most important new wave bands of the late seventies, working elements of punk and pop into their sound. In the first half of the eighties, thanks to brilliant records and slick music videos, the members became huge stars. Move Like This is full of quality, meaningful pop rock, the very style The Cars have been known for since the start. Ric Ocasek has a fairly clean voice, but through his delivery he makes it serve the songs as relatively disinterested, a bit distant and lost in thought. The faster, punchier tracks on Move Like This are a prime example of a meticulously polished take on the simple pop form, which doesn’t allow for big departures from short, tight songs that were always direct and glossy. This time a fair few of them could easily have slotted into their early albums. Keep On Knocking, Blue Tip and Too Late are cases in point.
Ric Ocasek is an incredibly prolific songwriter who also writes and produces for other musicians, so the pick of songs for Move Like This comes as no surprise. Of the ten tracks, eight are darkly punchy and two are ballads, which hint at a certain longing to repeat the mega success of the ballad Drive, their biggest hit, but they won’t get there with these. Ocasek also lacks the velvety voice for ballads, and his directness in delivery is maybe a touch too blunt for gentler themes. He did write Drive, but it was sung by Benjamin Orr, who wrapped it forever in a velvety tenor. Orr died in 2000 of pancreatic cancer. The Cars of 2011 have the same lineup as throughout their whole career, with only Orr missing. So after 24 years, Move Like This brings us a refreshed Cars, who seem able to still compete with modern pop production with this music, though really they don’t need any new proof of their worth, since they long ago added an important stone to the mosaic
Lineup
Ric Ocasek – lead and backing vocals, guitar, keyboards
Elliot Easton – guitar, backing vocals
Greg Hawkes – keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals
David Robinson – drums, percussion, backing vocals
Production
Jacknife Lee, The Cars
Track list
1 Blue Tip 3:13
2 Too Late 4:02
3 Keep On Knocking 3:53
4 Soon 4:23
5 Sad Song 3:38
6 Free 3:17
7 Drag On Forever 3:38
8 Take Another Look 4:47
9 It’s Only 3:01
10 Hits Me 3:51
