The Cars were one of the more interesting bands that were born out of the punk/indie scene in the US at the end of the seventies. After the success of their first two albums, the pressure was on for them for the difficult third release. The record company drafted in former Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker to oversee matters.
At their quirkiest, they sounded like Devo – mainly due to the vocal style of Ric Ocasek. At their best, they were a great pop band of the time. By this time they had gone full on into synth pop territory, and bore little resemblance to the band that had recorded My Best Friends Girl and Just What I Needed – they were killer tunes.
As usual with US singles bands, the 1st Side is loaded with the singles – even though in my opinion they aren’t that strong. I don’t have a favourite track as they are all a bit of a muchness. It’s definitely of it’s time, and sounds quite simplistic by today’s standards. As I mentioned, this was the difficult third album and didn’t sell that well. It’s an ok album, but nowhere near their best.
5/10 from The Grooveman.
