The Cars

The Cars' music isn't exactly what you'd call avant-garde, but it's a perfect example of
forward-looking contemporary pop – a calculatedly exquisite balance of crowd-pleasing
rock and the latest experiments in studio sound. The simplicity of the group's
five-man-band, not-too-heavy-on-the-synthesizers arrangements precludes the sluggish
pretentiousness of such British art-rock bands as Yes and early Genesis, yet the... More >

With hooks recurring as predictably as zebras on a carousel or heartbeats in a city, the glossy approach the Cars invented has made this the best year for pure pop in damn near twenty, and it's only fair that they should return so confidently to form. They still don't have much to say and they're still pretty arch about it, but that's no reason for anybody to get unduly bothered, and neither is Greg Hawkes's Fairlight. (Grade: B+)