Very warm article on Gary Numan’s Cars in the Grauniad… I don’t really like the “old music” tag though.
Firstly, Cars has an electro riff that would not be out of place on Jimmy Page’s Les Paul. This is backed up by the powerful drumming of the late Cedric Sharpley. Secondly, the force of the multi-layered Moog synthesiser parts is almost overwhelming. Using effects usually associated with heavy guitars – reverb, flanging and phasers – Numan drenched the gliding synth lines so they flow over you like wave after wave of ice water. These build throughout the song until the fantastical 1’30″ fadeout, during which the Polymoogs – used as elements of a string section – are folded on top of each other in hypnotic harmonies that reinforce the song’s sense of eerie dystopia.
