The Cars: Move Like This

You know the 80s revival is revved up when The Cars cruise back onto the pop-music scene. It’s been 25 years since the hit band’s career stalled with the sputtering Door to Door. This high-octane comeback, mostly catchy rock anthems, sports a harder rock edge than in the past, but several of the tracks would fit comfortably on one of the band’s hit 80s albums. That’s clear right from the opening “Blue Tip,” a hook-heavy pop tune that leads off with Casio-synth riffs and frontman Ric Ocasek’s droll vocals. The music is both highly derivative and delivered with a knowing self-referencing wink. Familiar touches from several of these tracks—a wavering synth note and classic electronic tone copped off of “Just What I Needed” or a slyly turned vocal phrase—follow the band’s tried- and-true pop formula and echo the chart-ready punk-meets-New Wave of the band’s earliest work. Included are an obligatory Elliot Easton-friendly ballad, “Soon,” similar in mood to the plaintive “Drive,” and even a dance floor-ready remake of “Too Late.” In the past, The Cars may have had trouble besting their own success, but fans of the band’s now classic-rock hits will find this year’s model a sleekly retro-fitted cruising machine.