I like the nightlife, baby!
I moved from Boston to Minneapolis last year, and I've really been missing home lately. Maybe it's because baseball season is in full swing, bringing flashbacks of last October, or maybe it's because the weather is improving and these people don't have an ocean. (I mean, seriously. Get an ocean.)
Anyway, the super-fun Cars tribute Substitution Mass Confusion, which came our way from the fine folks at Not Lame Records was ... er ... just what I needed.
When people talk about Boston's musical heritage, it's usually all about Aerosmith. But the Cars, the Cars! Formed in 1976, the band was part of the New Wave scene but sounded a little different than Blondie and the Talking Heads. They were just more fun, to put it dumbly, and their first record in 1978 remains one of the best debuts in pop music. (My dad used to joke that he could easily remember my sister's birth year because it was when The Cars was released. She was actually quite impressed.)
For the most part, Substitution Mass Confusion keeps this fun intact. Featuring bands such as the Argument, Jason Faulkner, Jon Auer of the Posies (is there a tribute album he isn't on?), the Bravery and Damone, the tracks range from note-for-note covers to reinterpretations. The reinterpretations, sadly, are the ones that don't work, especially an acoustic combination of My Best Friend's Girl and Magic called My Best Friend's Magic Girlfriend that's just as bad as it sounds.
However, these two tracks are great:
The Bravery - It's All I Can Do
The Bravery bring a little Lost In the Supermarket hi hat-fueled punk/disco to their track, and Boston's own Damone speeds up Just What I Needed just enough. They're fine reminders that the Cars' sense of fun is greatly missed these days. (Though sometimes-frontman Ric Ocasek sure helped by producing Weezer's debut.)
You can buy Substitution Mass Confusion here. Proceeds from sales go to the American Cancer Society in memory of Cars lead singer Ben Orr, who died in 2000.