The Cars: Candy O - 1979

 

Also enjoyable, though, (possibly more so) was this excellent follow up to the debut album from 1979, which, apart from having a wonderfully sexy cover was packed with fine, punchy and catchy organ and guitar-driven new wave material. 

It is all largely upbeat fare, with hints of The Ramones on the handclap, riffy Let's Go, Elvis Costello & The Attractions on Lust For Kicks and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers on Since I Held You in particular, along with some vague post-punkiness on the excellent Candy O and even a T. Rex Jeepster-esque riff on Dangerous Type, but never to the detriment of The Cars’ unique sound. 

It is definitely the match of the debut album, very much tapping in to the sound of 1979-80. It is one of those albums where, while nothing sticks out incredibly, you still can’t say that there’s a bad track on it. Not at all. Great album of its time. The Cars were second only to The Ramones in looking weird and geeky, weren't they?

The next batch of albums from The Cars finds them increasingly leaving behind the guitar-driven new wave sound that so characterised their first two albums and heading down a post punk road, with synthesisers to the fore and darker soundscapes. By the mid-eighties they had ended up as synthy stadium rockers.

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