Day 147: The Cars - The Cars

I’m still slightly struck down by the plague, so I’m feeling the urge to listen to some ‘70s music – I just think that’s a solid choice for when you’re a little bit impaired, no matter what the reason is. I thought I’d go for the Cars today, since I’m not really that aware of them, besides hearing some of the hits over the years.

Album cover courtesy of Elektra Records

The Cars were formed in Boston in 1976 by vocalist and guitarist Ric Ocasek, keyboard and synth player Greg Hawkes, vocalist and bassist Benjamin Orr, guitarist Elliot Easton and drummer David Robinson, with Ocasek as the band leader and primary songwriter. I haven’t written about them before, but I’ve mentioned Ocasek before since he produced some albums for Weezer, who I reviewed on day 124. He has also produced records for other acts like Le Tigre and Suicide.

Released in 1978, the group’s self-titled debut is one of the earlier new wave-ish releases at a time before many of the bands from that era had pivoted into that direction. It combines a spacey, futuristic sound with a slick, polished ‘70s guitar riffs and memorable, hooky pop choruses in a way that still sounds a little bit fresh.

I thought I’d maybe heard “Just What I Needed” and “Moving In Stereo” but it turns out I’ve already heard about half of the album. The rest that I hadn’t heard, I also liked so much that it feels like I should have listened to this ages ago. It’s all a little bit out there, but in a way that’s still accessible and fun to listen to. It’s all done so well that some of the lyrics which would not work in other hands, like “I'm a psilocybin pony / You're a flick fandango phony” or “Let them brush your rock and roll hair,” is barely even noticeably odd.

There’s not a single bad song on this album, you couldn’t find one if you tried. It’s a nice and compact nine song album that comes in at 35 minutes, and you wouldn’t want any more or any less. If there’s one think I didn’t like about the album, it’s the blurb on Apple Music that was written by some whippersnapper saying that when it was released, Ocasek was “a relatively ancient 34 years old,” but that’s not exactly the band’s fault. 9/10.