The Cars - Move Like This (2011)

this actually sounds kinda cool. they were ahead of their time, so their sound is still good for 2011.

http://stream.movelikethis.com/

really dig that guitar solo on "keep on knocking".

really enjoying this. didn't think i was feeling nostalgic this morning. but man a cars handclap is money in the bank. would totally buy this cd.

Just listened to this at work. It sounds like a lot of other stuff The Cars have done but that's A-OK in my book because I love a lot of other stuff The Cars have done.

I haven't heard it yet except for 1 song on the radio .. is there anything obvious missing that ben orr might have contributed? From that one listen, it's pretty much like they never left.. more so than any other reunion record in recent memory.

Except maybe superchunk..

And Dino Jr.

I'd been hyping up this for months in the Cars C/D thread, but NOW people pay attention. ;_;

yeah, funny how people get interested in something once they have the opportunity to hear it

But they were teasing songs since last fall.

why didn't I know Ben Orr died? weird

I'll quit being butthurt and instead be happy because the whole record is good.

Not to sound snarky, but the only way this record could have sucked is if Ocasek's songwriting and production had badly deteriorated in recent years. This guy has written the same kinds of songs since 1977.

i really like it. i mean, sometimes its good to hear from the source. certainly one of the better normal rock records i've heard in a long time!

i dunno, i haven't really followed what he has done for the last, um, forever...but this just sounds timely or refreshing or something. or it did today anyway. and the songs are really good! very catchy and mostly nice and short & sweet.

nice record. my only complaint (why do i have to complain?) is i'd like some more lush "drive"-like keybs. but that was orr's department, no?

This doesn't sounds bad at all, although I dislike the idea of The Cars getting back together without Ben Orr available.

i don't think he ever said he wasn't available

I think what he actually said was "braaaaaaaaains"

.. is there anything obvious missing that ben orr might have contributed?

Other than his luscious, velvety vocals? Ocasek can carry a tune, but he's not in the same league as a lead singer.

nice record. my only complaint (why do i have to complain?) is i'd like some more lush "drive"-like keybs. but that was orr's department, no?

Orr was bass. Greg Hawkes does the keys.

Who is playing bass this time around, then?

xpost I always thought their vox were so similar.. I had no idea he sang "Just What I Needed" until years later.

This album is 100X better than it has any right to be.

Hawkes is covering bass on the album too - not sure whether it's actual bass or a fairly good sampled bass though.

He played bass and "bass" on lots of Ocasek solo joints, so it makes sense.

Other than his luscious, velvety vocals? Ocasek can carry a tune, but he's not in the same league as a lead singer.
so true -- ocasek is just not a singer. that's ok because he can really write a song, but i really have a soft spot for orr's voice. he's right up there with dion dimucci for velvety.

I prefer Ocasek perhaps precisely because he has always sounded like he's struggling to pull it off.

Who sang "Bye Bye Love"?

Who sang "Bye Bye Love"?

That would be Orr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XitrgD1BPsQ

Ben Orr's lead Cars turns, grouped by albums:

Just What I needed
Bye Bye Love
Moving In Stereo
All Mixed Up

Let's Go
It's All I Can Do
Candy-O

Cruiser
This Could Be Love
Think It Over

Don't Tell Me No
Down Boys
You Wear Those Eyes
Running To You

Drive
Stranger Eyes
It's Not The Night

Double Trouble
Everything You Say
Coming Up You
Go Away

feel like i'm in an alternate universe where this was the actual follow-up to heartbeat city. doesn't actually sound "retro" or whatever but timeless. imo this isn't just a good reunion record but a good cars record period.

there's also some straight-up nu wave sock hop songs on this that wouldn't be out of place on candy-o. skinny tie music for ponying.

Orr sang a ton of songs, but the actual tone of his voice was so similar to Ocasek's that I never realized it wasn't Ocasek singing everything until a few years ago. Orr was a better singer, but Ocasek does a fine job on this album. Heard the live shows have been kind of fun and sloppy; Oakland is sold out and I can't make it anyway, but I'm hoping they come back through later in the year.

As a kid, the Who and the Cars were the first two bands that stuck out to me on rock radio, and it took me months (felt like years) to distinguish between songs sung by Daltrey and Orr and those by Townshend and Ocasek- a lot of it was that the playing is so distinct, it doesn't matter who sings. Some of it's that the melodic sense of the songwriter overshadows the delivery. And some of it must be Daltrey and Orr just liking the demos they heard.

Anyways, "Drag on Forever" is my fav here. Those couplets are like Leonard Cohen filtered through Brian Ferry. But so much here is solid. I'm still in shock that old pros could pull out something so inspired.

totally a happy surprise.

feel like i'm in an alternate universe where this was the actual follow-up to heartbeat city.

They certainly put art on the thing like it was a 1985 follow up

http://musictap.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/TheCarsMoveLikeThis.jpg

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/s/starship/album-knee-deep-in-the-hoopla.jpg

http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-1349092-1211774944.jpeg

straight-up nu wave sock hop songs on this that wouldn't be out of place on candy-o.

Which tracks?? I dunno, I've loved the Cars since 1978, but I'm not really hearing the new one yet. Played it over the weekend, sounded okay, but I wasn't hearing anything in the neighborhood of their greatest and catchiest songs. I'll definitely go back and re-listen to any specific ones people recommend, though.

Enjoyed the short interview with Ric in the Times las weekend

He's such a curmudgeon in that interview, especially toward the end -- it was great! Plus, in the picture, he looked exactly like this even more curmudgeony and depressive animator friend of mine named John. A link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/magazine/mag-08Talk-t.html

xhuxk - the ones that are really doing it for me are "Blue Tip", "Sad Song", "Free", and "Keep on Knocking" to a lesser extent. It took me a few listens before they really clicked in, probably because I was too busy over-analyzing them the first couple of times.

i still think this is pretty okay! sixth place out of seven is not bad.

sounded okay, but I wasn't hearing anything in the neighborhood of their greatest and catchiest songs.

yeah, i suppose nothing on here really reaches those heights; i think what i was excited about was that they actually made a few songs (the first three sean mentions) that sound close enough to the type of thing that i love about the earlier stuff. probably too reactionary and the wrong way to approach music but i have needs.

also, i bought this with money! at a real store!

best buy clerk: the carters?

me: the cars

bbc:uh, what genre is that?

me: straight-up nu wave sock hop music pop/ rock i guess

that was the only copy they had in stock. now they have to order another one.