The Cars – The Cars (1978 Debut)

Allan Sparhawk (Low) on Pitchfork’s Instagram recently reminded me how great this album is. He rated it 10 out of 10.

You could not have been alive in the summer of 1978 without being aware of The Cars’ “Just What I Needed” and “My Best Friend’s Girl.” At the time, I was a budding music snob and looked down my nose at their music – considering it bubblegum. But they were a guilty pleasure. I didn’t own the album back then, so I did not know the rest of the album beyond the two hits above, plus “Good Times Roll,” “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight,” and “Bye Bye Love.” Given the cost, you had to prioritize your album purchases in those days. No reason to waste money on something that could easily be heard on the radio. In recent years, I picked up a cheap vinyl copy for my collection.

The Cars had an incredible five-album run from 1978 through 1984. But this 1978 debut brilliantly captured what would happen to music in the 1980s. They defined New Wave music. In hindsight, I have underrated their greatness.

Music critic Robert Palmer, who has written for The New York Times and Rolling Stone, described the Cars’ musical style as follows: “They have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the ’50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop—and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend.”

Side One of the album opens with an incredible three-song sequence: “Good Times Roll,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” and “Just What I Needed.” Three hits in a row! The next song, “I’m In Touch With Your World,” takes The Cars formula, slows it down, and goes for quirky. “Don’t Cha Stop” felt like it could have been a hit, but it was just a touch less catchy than the hits.

Side Two opens with a one-two punch of “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” and “Bye Bye Love”—more hits. “Moving In Stereo” is the coolest non-hit on the album. It has a spooky pop-Velvet Underground vibe. “All Mixed Up” closes that album with a completely different vibe—more of a 60s psychedelic sound. It seems a bit out of place on the album, but it is still a good song.

This is a fantastic debut—it has a bunch of hits, and the non-hits are quality deep tracks that are not filler. If you could only have one The Cars album, this would be it.