( CNN ) -- New Wave rockers The Cars are on the road again , the first time in nearly 25 years . Their mission ? To bring their brand of quirky , syncopated pop music to a new generation . The new album `` Move Like This '' hits shelves , or your favorite download site , Tuesday -- the same day the band begins an 11-city , coast-to-coast tour . So , how does the new model of The Cars sound ? `` I think it sounds like The Cars in 2011 , '' keyboardist Greg Hawkes said of the band that formed in Boston in 1976 . `` It sounds like a modern album , yet it sounds like The Cars . '' It 's hard to argue with Hawkes . The first two songs -- `` Blue Tip '' and `` Sad Song '' -- off the new album sound instantly familiar . The Cars always have been a bouncy combination of understated guitars , layered synthesizers , punchy rhythm section and songwriter Ric Ocasek 's often-cryptic lyrics dancing among them . The genesis of the project began nearly a year and a half ago . `` I think about January of last year , I got a call from Ric saying , 'What do you think about doing a Cars album ? ' I was surprised to say the least , '' Hawkes said . As lead singer and primary songwriter , Ocasek was key to any Cars reunion . `` I think he sort of had a lot of songs that he had written and was sort of getting a backlog of material , '' Hawkes said . `` I think he was just thinking that a lot of them just might work in the context of a new Cars album . '' Ocasek stayed busy in the interim years , recording six solo projects and producing albums by a variety of artists , including Weezer , Guided by Voices and Bad Religion . The Cars were a radio staple in the late 1970s and early 1980s , with hits like `` Just What I Needed , '' `` Drive , '' and `` You Might Think . '' The band 's eye-catching videos also were a hit in MTV 's formative years . The combination fueled more than 23 million in U.S. album sales , according to figures tallied by the Recording Industry Association of America . The recording sessions were the first for the band since bass player and vocalist Ben Orr died from cancer in 2000 , making The Cars a four-piece band . In addition to Hawkes and Ocasek , the other original members are Elliot Easton on guitar and drummer David Robinson . `` We missed him a lot , '' Hawkes said . `` We were talking about him a lot during the time that we were recording . His presence was definitely missed . '' In Orr 's absence , Hawkes took over bass duties in the studio . The Cars enlisted producer Garret `` Jacknife '' Lee for the project , who like Ocasek had worked with Weezer , to get the band motoring again . `` To have an outside producer helped , '' according to Hawkes . `` It was a good way to get us working with each other . '' The result is 10 new Cars songs , half produced by Lee and the rest by the band . The trick with The Cars , Hawkes said , is for each member to add their own musical personality to the Ocasek-penned songs . `` I usually go in with a few sort of things that I want to do or try , '' he said . `` The other inspiration sort of comes from spur of the moment kind of messing with sounds and seeing what fits with the track as it gets created . '' But will any of their old fans be waiting after a quarter-century hiatus ? `` I guess there is that danger , '' acknowledged Hawkes , who said he 's up for the challenge of trying `` to win over some new ones . '' The Cars also are attempting their comeback in a music industry that has largely imploded since the band 's last album in 1987 . The companies that market music are mere skeletons of their former selves as the digital age has changed the dynamics . `` The Internet has made it so that a lot of bands are kind of making it on their own through their use of the Internet , without a traditional record company , '' Hawkes said . The new album is being released through Hear Music , a joint venture between Concord Music Group and Starbucks . The java chain is also marketing music by Paul Simon , Bonnie Raitt and K.D . Lang . `` It 's kind of hard for me to know exactly where The Cars are going fit into that whole strange new world , '' Hawkes added with a chuckle . `` Hopefully there are a lot of people who will be curious to hear what The Cars are up to these days . '' CNNRadio 's Shelby Lin Erdman contributed to this report .
The Cars begin an 11-city , coast-to-coast tour Tuesday . TL;DR A new documentary about the making of one of rock's most iconic albums is set to premiere at Sundance on Friday. The band formed in Boston in 1976 .