In the summer of 2023, just a few weeks before arriving at school, I watched the (then-new) rom-com Your Place or Mine starring Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher. Was the movie the most highbrow, intellectually stimulating piece of cinema I’d ever seen? Definitely not. Do I remember much of the plot now, over a year later? Also definitely not. The movie was meant to be forgettable and escapist, and it achieved that goal. In fact, the only detail from that movie that remains with me today is that Peter, Ashton Kutcher’s character, loved The Cars. I had listened to The Cars before watching this movie — “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Drive” — but I hadn’t been particularly struck by the band. When it was revealed in the film that The Cars were Peter’s favorite band, it seemed to me like an odd choice. I liked what I knew of their music, but it seemed unlikely that they would be someone’s absolute favorite band. With this floating around in the back of my mind, I decided one day on my walk to class that I’d listen to their namesake debut album … and then I finally understood. Now, when I think of my fall 2023 semester, I think of The Cars, and what better way for me to ring in this new fall semester than to revisit the 1978 album?
The record kicks off with “Good Times Roll,” a lyrically simplistic track that’s easy to sing along to and features a satisfying instrumental build. Frontman Ric Ocasek said of the song: “That was my song about what the good times in rock ‘n’ roll really mean, instead of what they’re supposed to be. It was kind of a parody of good times, really. It was kinda like not about good times at all.” Next is “My Best Friend’s Girl,” which hit me with a whole new force when I listened to The Cars in full for the first time. It’s one of the band’s more popular songs that retains that characteristic singability of most songs by The Cars, punctuated by the band’s signature layered vocals.
If it makes one cliché to say that their favorite Cars song is “Just What I Needed,” then I’m cliché and I’m proud of it. “Just What I Needed” was one of the band’s first hits, and that’s the case for a reason. Sung by bassist Benjamin Orr, this song is New Wave rock at its absolute finest. It includes a fun repetition-style call and response, and the instrumentals during the chorus perfectly underscore Orr’s voice. I’ve been listening to this song nonstop since my rediscovery of The Cars, and I don’t foresee that coming to an end anytime soon.
“I’m in Touch with Your World” starts out slow and soft, and sounds like Ocasek is calling to the microphone from another room. Quirky sound effects come in during the chorus, making the song sound like a video game soundtrack. In “Don’t Cha Stop,” vocal layering again plays an important role during the chorus and almost sounds like something from Queen, but the highlight of this song for me is Elliot Easton on lead guitar. “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” is a crossover between grunge and New Wave and has a similar vibe to “Don’t Cha Stop.” There are two amazing guitar solos (also courtesy of Easton) and yet another call and response-type dynamic between Ocasek’s vocals and Easton’s guitar — the perfect storm.
“Bye Bye Love” is an additional example of what keyboardist Greg Hawkes calls Ocasek’s “knack for taking a common phrase like ‘You’re All I’ve Got Tonight’ and making a great song out of it.” Its simplicity, compounded with the fact that it’s catchy, is what makes it so effective. “Moving in Stereo” is a bit different — it’s trippy, light on the lyrics (sung by Orr) and more daring in its experimentation with the New Wave sound. “All Mixed Up” finishes off the album, again relying on the staples of a Cars song: repetition, call and response and vocal layering. The song picks up as it goes on, reaching its peak at the very end and making the listener disappointed that the song, and the album, are ending.
I’ll admit it: I grossly underestimated The Cars before watching Your Place or Mine. While the movie may not have been one of the most significant developments of popular culture in the past decade, I do have it to thank for my newfound appreciation of The Cars. And, if you want to take away a bigger point from this article than I did from Your Place or Mine, let it be this: I get it now, Peter. I get it now.
Test Spins is a weekly throwback column reviewing and recommending classic and underrated albums from the past. It runs every Friday.
Sydney Levinton is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at [email protected].