The Cars – Candy-O – 1979
When you know how to do one thing and you do can do that thing perfectly, why change your formula?
That seems to be The Cars’ motto on this album, following one year after their debut. Now, I’ve said it many times that if this was a cd that came out 10 years later it would have been one 60 minute record and we would have all been bored earlier.
Instead, it’s like a refreshing visit from a cousin that you love to have around. not all the time, but, when he’s around, the food is just a bit tastier, the drinks crisper, life is just a little…better. There’s the same amount of frustration and heartache, but it’s under such a pretty sheen and welcoming style that you don’t notice just how lonely you really are.
That’s Candy-O. The Cars Part II.
It explodes with “Let’s Go”, a rallying cry of sorts, but it settles in to what it knows best, mid tempo electro-pop, rather quickly. Tracks like “Double Life”, pulsating rhythms and replete with oohs and ahhs we’ve come to love, beings to wear out its welcome earlier than one would hope based on the last album.
And, I have no idea what “Shoo-Be-Doo” is supposed to be. Some kind of Americanized Kraftwerk, it serves better as the influence for Xex. Thankfully, it doesn’t last too long and crashes into the classic “Candy-O”. Just what you needed, just in time.
The vacuum sealed soundtrack to a Cafe Fleshian society continues on Side Two, with “Nightspots”, a song that truly takes the band’s name and makes it aural. It’s more soundscape than song at times, and it’s great. After the somnabulous, droning of “Lust for Kicks” it’s awfully nice for to hear the band kick out the jams with “Got a Lot on My Head”.
The album ends on the high note, the classic radio staple, “Dangerous Type” which is also, I think, a harbinger of what’s to come…..
Candy-O won’t let you down. But it won’t make you want to get in your car and drive.
Grade: B
ASide: Let’s Go, It’s All I Can Do, Got a Lot on My Head, Dangerous Type
BlindSide: Double Life, Nightspots
DownSide: Lust For Kicks
