SPIN

5

• SPIN Rating:5 of 10

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Release Date: May 10, 2011
Label: Hear

On their first studio album since 1987, these re-formed new-wavers (minus late bassist Benjamin Orr) eerily replicate the synth-slicked pop-rock that drove them to superstardom. Palm-muted guitar and on-the-upbeat handclaps? "Sad Song" practically screams, "Let's go!" Yet compared to the band's clever early hits, the songwriting too often lapses into clunkiness: "You're my lover and forever my friend," Ric Ocasek sings over the prom schmaltz of "Soon." "When I touch you I never want it to end." Not exactly what anybody needed.