THE CARS Heartbeat City (Elektra)

Laura Fissinger

Heartbeat City is a heavy duty history lesson. First: the Cars had more to say about what rock sounds like now than almost any other band of their era still living to tell the tale. And second: maybe living to tell the tale is not the best part of the deal.

Before the Cars and their 1978 self-titled debut, popular music was split into two sulking, self-righteous camps called disco and punk/new wave. (Arena rock, God love it, simply stayed out of the fray and kept making money.) To some excitable types it looked like the old war between (supposedly lowbrow) entertainment and (supposedly highbrow) art was finally going to kill the one art form (pop music) that could have played double agent and made a lasting peace. The Cars started out in generic white rock, made a pit stop at disco for the synth sound and the dance beat, then pillaged new wave for smartboy lyrics, stripped-down arrangements and some garage band guitar power. Presto. Half the 'dance rock' bands in Billboard's current Top 40 should wash Ric Ocasek's' feet with a drool of gratitude.