CD Review by Doug Cornell

The New Cars aren't your fathers Cars.

In a turn of events that even the highest-paid automotive executives couldn't dream up, The New Cars are back on the road in a souped-up, high-octane re-design of the old band.  The New Cars is a bit of a misnomer, as this isn't a bunch of young guys playing the songs made popular by the band way back in the early 1980's.

Gone are Rick Ocasek and Ben Orr.  Instead we have the legendary Todd (the Mod) Rundgren on lead vocals and his fellow Utopian Kasim Sultan on bass guitar.  Prairie Prince (of the Tubes) replaces David Robinson on the drums.

The It's Alive! promo copy that I received contains a full tank full of live tunes by the new band. These guys certainly sound like the cars, and Rundgren is the perfect front man, sounding exactly like both Ocasek and Orr.  The band is in fine form, cheerfully blitzing through all of the hits - "Best Friend's Girl," "Just What I Neeed," "Drive," "You're All I've Got Tonight," and every other hit you'd expect the band to perform.  There is one surprise included, Rundgren's radio hit "I Saw the Light," which Todd must have forced the band to play by contractual arrangement.  The album also includes a couple of new, untitled tracks that sound like they could have been included on any of the original band's first three albums.

Musically, these live songs are full of energy and slick playing.  The songs barrel along at full speed, and the band gives their all to re-create the original Cars sound.  It would have been nice to hear some re-workings of these songs, because for the most part they are performed exactly as they sound on the original studio recordings.  The songs do hold up well though, as there is no denying that the new-wave power pop of the Cars is very easy on the ears.

It's easy to suppose that this album really exists to serve as a vehicle for the band's upcoming national tour of theaters and casinos.  They'll make some money, play some fun tunes, and sell some t-shirts.

Capitalism isn't all bad.