Various Artists: Tribute to the Cars: Substitution Mass Confusion

The musical legacy of the Cars, who had their heyday in the late 1970s, remains very much alive. “Just What I Needed” is heard on national Circuit City ads; “Hello Again” is heard daily on a Nickelodeon ad. Ziggy Marley’s take on “Drive” appeared on Adam Sandler’s 50 First Dates soundtrack. In subtle ways, these songs have become part of our popular culture.

What the Cars managed then was to create slick, well-produced rock that merged punk and mainstream in a manner that provided a succession of hit singles. For a time, the Cars were undisputedly America’s most popular band. In retrospect, this Boston band had much to offer: David Robinson’s catchy beats; Benjamin Orr’s rich vocals and bass stylings; Greg Hawkes’s incomparable synth keyboard hooks; Elliot Easton’s mastery of the 15 second lead; Ric Ocasek’s quirky vocals, rhythm guitar, and most impressive songwriting. These were songs we all identified with — some about girls, romance, fast cars, nightlife, and always more about girls. They connected new wave sensibility to the core of the American consciousness.

Starting as a band in 1976, they rode the crest of the popularity wave for a time, most notably with their eponymous debut in 1978. Six albums later, the Cars faded from the scene after 1987’s Door to Door. Now, thanks to executive producer Peter Kuehl, a new generation of musical artists has gathered to pay tribute to those marvelous songs of yesteryear.

Tribute to the Cars: Substitution Mass Confusion presents 21 updated, retranslated versions of Ocasek songs, concentrating largely on the more popular, well-known part of the canon. It’s a respectful homage, and (in a great touch) the artists recount their connections to the original music as part of the CD booklet.

While the originals were impeccably rendered, these various artists have done a great job of adding their own touches to the songs, enough so to often make them their own. The CD gets off to a rollicking start with West Virginia’s the Argument and its fairly straight-ahead take on the synth-pop “Hello Again”. Scott Simons does a fine job here with the vocals and keyboard duties and Matt Warder adds a nice guitar lead.

Next up is Waltham, MA’s Damone, doing a slightly sped-up version of “Just What I Needed”. Vocals are courtesy of Noelle, the 17-year old lead singer for the band — and she gets the attitude behind the words just right. The female lead gives the familiar a different twist.

Jason Falkner takes on the difficult 5/4 time signature of ‘Touch and Go” all by himself. Falkner is a master of everything, and his one-man band’s version actually manages to improve some aspects of the original (do check out his guitar lead, not to mention his bass, drums, synthesizer, etc.).

The first real break with tradition can be found in Butch Walker’s “My Best Friend’s Magic Girlfriend”, wherein he delivers the classic tune in a wholly different manner. With just an electric guitar and plain vocals (plus a few accent touches), Walker turns the song into a folk/rock standard. In testament to Ocasek’s writing, it works.

Employing the phase-shifter, the Millions put out a fun, kinetic version of “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”. Christopher Grey does a nice job on vocals, while Johnny Million and Dan Edwards deliver the goods on guitar.

Bleu imprints his sound onto a version of “You Might Think”, a version I really enjoyed. He adds a minor note to the verses, but his backup band is great (and he handles the vocals and synth programming masterfully). Adam Ross contributes a lead guitar that would make Easton proud.

Will Owsley and band do a great version of “Got a Lot on My Head”. Owsley seems to be quite the cover chameleon (his “Band on the Run” also is excellent). Again, he’s got fine support with Millard Powers on bass, Chris McHugh on drums, and Jonathan Hamby on keyboards.

PurrBox, featuring the vocals of one Miss Mellie, take on “Shake It Up”. Her delivery has sort of a punk party casualness to it, but the real highlight here is Johnny Million’s supercharged performance on guitar.

Chris Von Sneidern has taken on the difficult task of covering “Drive”. Rather than going after the full arrangement of the original, Von Sneidern delivers with minimalist clean vocals and guitar (with a few vibe notes later). He really makes it his own — a testament to the strength of the song and Von Sneidern’s talents as an artist.

Enuff Z’nuff ‘s talented lead guitarist Johnny Monaco delivers another one-man band performance with his rendition of “Dangerous Type”. His love of the original comes across here, especially on the guitar end of the spectrum.

“Bye Bye Love” (which has the lyric that provides this tribute with its name) is well-covered by Spiraling. Tom Brislin really does a bang-up job on vocals, Moog, and clavinet (really getting into the spirit of Ocasek’s vocals and Hawkes’s keyboards).

New York’s the Bravery provide an interesting version of “It’s All I Can Do” that sounds like the Cars as filtered through the Human League. Former Boston (now L.A.) natives Gigolo Aunts (featuring Kid Lightning) take on the quiet beauty of “I’m Not the One” with heartfelt emotive vocals and sweet harmonies, turning out a truly pretty track.

Doug Powell, hard-pressed to improve on the excellence of any of the original Cars songs, opted to take on a grungy garage rock version of “Candy-O”. Powell is another one-man do-it-yourselfer, a talent in so many ways (listen to the layers of guitar, and impressive drumming for further proof).

The Andersons! deliver a fairly radical departure with their cover of “Since You’re Gone”. Missing is the click track that helmed the original; in its place, a gutsy, heartfelt vocal delivery that gives the song a whole different urgency (courtesy of Robbie Rist).

Dum Dog Run is Rick Altizer’s new band. Altizer and cohorts present a keyboard-less rocking version of “Let’s Go”. Guitars rock the action, and the fine vocals follow.

Michael Simmons adds a quirky “Heartbeat City” intro onto his Sparkle*Jets U.K. cover of “Slip Away”, one of the lesser known Car hits. In S*JUK’s version, there’s a lightness and cheery amiability, thanks to the fun inherent in the performance of Simmons, West, Knight, and Borack.

The Posies’ Jon Auer takes on another lesser known gem in “Misfit Kid”. This is a sweetly haunting minimalist take, enhanced by Auer’s vocal delivery and powerful tympani accents.

Action Action’s Mark Thomas Kluepfel does a nifty job with the synths and organ of “Tonight She Comes”, but makes the song his own with his dramatic style of vocal delivery. This takes the Cars’ idea of synth-pop and extends it even further into that realm. Similarly, the Cautions do the same sort of thing with “Nightspots”, turning the synth knob up to 11, and interspersing some flashy guitar.

The collection closes with a slowed-down “Good Times Roll”, courtesy of Kansas City’s own the Daybirds. This treatment really shows the strengths of the song — it’s able to stand up to this sort of close-up dissection and still sound wonderful.

I’d have to say that this is one of the best tributes I’ve come across. Not only will it have you fondly returning to your old Cars albums; it’ll pique your curiosity about these diverse 21 artists. I encourage curious listeners to investigate the other offerings from all of these artists — I’ve reviewed several of them over the years.

Overall, there’s excellent quality to these chosen covers on Tribute to the Cars: Substitution Mass Confusion — a real sense of love for the originals and a desire to live up to that high standard. What’s even better is that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this tribute will be donated to the American Cancer Society in memory of the late Benjamin Orr. So you get to enjoy the music and help the cause — as such, you truly can’t go wrong.