It's not uncommon for a has-been band to reunite without its original frontman (Doors of the 21st century), not even when that frontman is still alive (Creedence Clearwater Revisited, No Talking Just Head). Sure, reunion tours rarely follow a few years after the death of the band's other, equally integral vocalist, but everybody's gotta put food on the table, right? So while the Cars' latest incarnation-- which follows the passing of former co-leader Benjamin Orr-- doesn't break ground for nostalgia-vendor shamelessness, the mostly live jawn It's Alive is still an unusual project with sadly predictable results.
Rock'n'roll rehashes make strange bedfellows. New Cars vocalist and venerable pop/rock eccentric Todd Rundgren was making arena fare both alone and with his band Utopia when the original Cars rose to jittery, synth-spiked prominence in the late 1970s and early 80s. So it's not like New Cars' old Cars holdovers Elliot Easton (guitar) and Greg Hawkes (keyboards) are pulling a Fuel and signing up some "American Idol" also-ran. Rundgren, knowing his role as a hired gun, neatly adopts Ric Ocasek's hiccuping delivery, and his longtime collaborators Kasim Sulton and Praire Prince show up for bass and drums, respectively.
The first hour or so of It's Alive is perfect for Cars fans so diehard they'd not only pay for a live album of songs they mostly already own, but a live album 20 years after the fact with only two original members and a different lead singer. The New Cars have no time to waste on showmanlike build-up, opening with a straightforward "Just What I Needed" before cruising through some other hits: "Candy-O" with particularly candied-up guitar wanks, "Good Times Roll" with its "Good Day Sunshine"-ripping hook, and "Moving in Stereo" for those of you who haven't seen Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Yes, "My Best Friend's Girl" and "You're All I've Got Tonight", too. But there's something unsavory about the false-innocent backing harmonies-- think Mike Love's Beach Boys.
It's a form of live-band karaoke, sure, but the setlist isn't all stage-worthy, let alone "Idol"-able. Rundgren also contributes two of his own compositions. He Tom Joneses daftly through 1972 soft-rocker "I Saw the Light", while Nazz nugget "Open My Eyes" still isn't as good as the Who's "I Can't Explain" no matter how hard it cops the riff (plus, this version is sadly lacking in the original's wah-wah psychedelia). Meanwhile, on 1980s supermodel ballad "Drive", Sulton fills in for Orr's velvety vocal.
Did I mention there are three new songs? Recorded in a studio? Single "Not Tonight"-- the one with awkward attempts at Blackberry humor-- also appears in live form. Rundgren's trembling vocal here falls somewhere between Ocasek and Roy Orbison, and while the jerky arrangement is vintage Cars, didn't the Strokes and others do this better a few years ago? Slow, ponderous "Warm" sounds like Dream Theater covering "Stairway to Heaven" with outerspace sound effects and lyrics (about seasons!) that lack rhyme and reason and make you insane. Then, like the conclusion of a Hollywood blockbluster with a prewritten sequel, Cars-by-numbers closer "More" confirms our worst fears-- they think they've left us wanting, um, more.
