Ranked: The Cars' Singles from Worst to Best

In honor of the first new Cars album in 24 years, we get nostalgic.

By Alex Heigl

On May 10, The Cars will release Move Like This, their first album since 1987's Door to Door. In honor of a band with a boatload of ubiquitous songs and no one definitive album, we're ranking all of their Top 40 singles from worst to best.

12. "I'm Not the One" (from Shake It Up, 1981)

"I'm Not the One" sounds like Mark Mothersbaugh's Casio score for The Life Aquatic, and I don't really mean that in a good way. Ric Ocasek's voice expresses vague neurosis better than heartfelt emotion, and the result is that his lead here is consistently out-emoted by the backing vocals. Oh, and the synth solo at 1:55 sounds like John Paul Jones' on Led Zeppelin's "Rain Song" two years prior, if he played it with one finger and half an ear.

11."You Are the Girl" (from Door to Door, 1987)

A rare lead-vocal collaboration between Ocasek and the band's secret weapon, bassist Benjamin Orr (who died in 2000), "You Are the Girl" represented the Cars' last Top 40 hit. The result is a tightly crafted pop song that, unfortunately, wouldn't sound particularly out of place on an episode of Charles in Charge. (Though, to be honest, you could say that about many Cars songs.)

10."Hello Again" (from Heartbeat City, 1984)

"Hello Again"'s main hook is a recycling of the band's own "Let's Go," and the whole track feels slightly stolen from somewhere, as if Bernie Worrell snuck in from a Talking Heads session and tossed this off as a favor to Ocasek for getting him that eight-ball that one time. There's not much to it except the typical Cars formula: stuttering riff, California harmonies on the chorus, and a kind of asexual, teddy-bear charm, much like anyone below the age of thirty wearing a bow-tie.

9. "Drive" (from Heartbeat City, 1984)

Though 1984's "Drive" was actually the band's biggest hit, it hasn't aged well. Layers of synth coat the track like Vaseline, glossing over Benjamin Orr's surprisingly tender vocals, and the whole thing sounds like what you'd use to ironically score your student film's "heartfelt" moment, if you were being a dick.

8. "Magic" (from Heartbeat City, 1984)

"Magic" is an undeniably crushing song from what's generally remembered as one of the lightest rock bands of the '80s. The mock-AC/DC guitar riff, percolating bass line, and syrupy harmonies wrap Ocasek's tense singing with just the right amount of heft. The rinky-dinky keyboards push the band over the Spinal Tap line from stupid to clever.

7. "Cruiser" (from Shake It Up, 1981)

"Cruiser" is a lesser-known single, but it's an efficient rocker featuring the best elements of the Cars' sound: sparse synth lines, drums that sound like they're coming from the trunk of your car, and, all things considered, some pretty bitchin' guitar licks. The song's chorus ("You comb the night 'cause you're a cruiser and you never get enough") is a little dark coming from the future dad-rock band that the Cars were, but then again, Ric Ocasek has always looked like he's hiding something.

6. "My Best Friend's Girl" (from The Cars, 1978)

On one of the band's most visible singles, the incredibly catchy hook masks some of the more subtle elements of the song, like Easton's nimble guitar work (which marries rockabilly chicken-pickin' to stun-gun distortion) and the detached cool of Ocasek's vocals. These elements aside, though, "My Best Friend's Girl" perfectly encapsulates a situation all of us have been in and then makes us feel infinitely better about it. And oh man, those handclaps.