You’ve no doubt heard by now that The Cars have reunited and are readying a new album. In mid-July, the four surviving original members (guitarist Benjamin Orr died of pancreatic cancer in 2000) posted a photo of themselves in a recording studio on the band’s Facebook page without a caption. A couple of weeks later, more captionless snaps appeared, including one of Garret “Jacknife” Lee. whom astute readers will recognize as the producer behind recent albums from U2, Snow Patrol, and R.E.M., including their upcoming spring release, Collapse Into Now.

Then in October, The Cars posted a snippet of a new song, “Blue Tip,‘ and shortly afterward, Billboard reported that The Cars had indeed been recording new material together. Confirmation of the group’s reunion finally came via Ric Ocasek himself. No additional news has been announced, like a release date for instance, but when the set does surface, it will mark the New Wave synth-pop pioneers’ first album since 1987’s Door To Door, after which the band broke up.

There’s always a risk in attempting a return to one’s glory days, particularly when a band as revered as The Cars has been garaged for so long. But since Ric Ocasek had previously been pretty adamant that the band would never reform, I have to imagine they’ve got a good thing going again, or he wouldn’t have bothered. And the lanky lead has even said as much, stating that the newly recorded material “actually sounds like a modern day version of The Cars.”

My favorite song from The Cars still remains the first I remember hearing from them, the still-so-irresistably-catchy “Shake It Up.” The title track from their 1981 album served as the set’s first single, and debuted at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 twenty-nine years ago this week. It would go on to spend three weeks at #4 the following February, with “Shake It Up” becoming The Cars’ biggest hit until 1984’s “Drive” parked a spot higher. Hear here:

Purchase The Cars – “Shake It Up” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.