After four albums with the Cars, Ric Ocasek's solo debut is – surprisingly–very much what you might expect: artful electronics, discreet riffs, fat dance beats and semidetached vocals with that trademark twist of torment to them. Since some of the ten tunes here are more than vaguely familiar ("Jimmy Jimmy" strongly recalls "Shake It Up." and the choogly "Something to Grab For" harks back to "My Best Friend's Girl"), fans of the band should take easily to this first effort from its leader.

More obsessive Ocasek followers, however, may be puzzled – a solo album, after all, is supposed to reveal something of the soloist. All we learn here, really, is that Ocasek continues to keep his ears open (the wobbly synthesizer line in "Connect Up to Me" suggests a familiarity with the German band Rheingold); that he still empathizes with the agonies of adolescence (on both "Jimmy Jimmy" and "Take a Walk"); and that he maintains a broad appreciation for rock's past ("I Can't Wait" is a cleverly updated take on the Spectorian wall of sound, and "A Quick One," one of the album's best tunes, combines new-age keyboard triplets with an opening guitar blast that's redolent of the great Texas rocker Roky Erickson). Despite the anomic agitation of "Time Bomb" (which features a beautifully brought-off guitar solo) and the unsettling drugginess of "Out of Control" (Ocasek's "Tomorrow Never Knows"), the singer never shows us his soul.

Ocasek's greatest gift may well be for production, and this album is a showcase of cleverly deployed sonic elements. Unfortunately, some of the songs thus embellished sound as if they originated not with a melodic or lyrical inspiration, but between a pair of headphones, as exercises in overdubbing. There are radio hits here for sure, but one expects something more stirring from an artist and new-music champion of Ocasek's stature. Next time out, he should really shake it up. (RS 388)

KURT LODER