New wave rock heroes the Cars recently surprised their fans by announcing that they had ended their 22-year breakup and recorded a brand new album, 'Move Like This.' Now, appropriately given their name, the band is taking the show on the road with a series of concerts across the country.

The band's primary songwriter, Ric Ocasek, had been the one holding out on a reunion for so long, focusing instead on his solo career and producing records for artists such as Weezer and No Doubt. He also stayed on the sidelines as his bandmates formed the New Cars a few years with studio whiz Todd Rundgren.

But after writing a new batch of songs in 2009, Ocasek decided to call the surviving Cars - Greg Hawkes, Elliot Easton and David Robinson - and see if they could make a record together. Original bassist and sometimes frontman Benjamin Orr passed away in 2000. "It totally clicked immediately," Ocasek says. "Everybody got right into it, as if we had never stopped playing. After two days I thought, 'Oh yeah, this is going to be cool.'"

The rest of the group is clearly delighted as well, with Easton declaring that "within minutes we were up to our usual mischief. We had a blast making the record and I think that shows in the music." The first two songs released, 'Blue Tip' and 'Sad Song,' do indeed make it sound as if no time has passed since their 1988 breakup, and we mean that in a good way.

Robinson seems excited to get back on stage with his old friends, promising to play plenty of the hits - 'Let's Go,' 'My Best Friend's Girl' - that made them famous: "We have such a great catalog of songs to choose from. The new songs should blend in nicely."

The Cars 2011 North American spring tour dates:

5/10 - Seattle, Wash.
5/12 - Los Angeles, Calif.
5/13 - Oakland, Calif.
5/15 - Denver, Colo.
5/17 - Minneapolis, Minn.
5/18 - Chicago, Ill.
5/20 - Toronto, ONT.
5/23 - Washington, DC.
5/25 - New York City, N.Y.
5/26 - Boston, Mass.

Watch The Cars, 'Blue Tip' video

 

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