2/5ths Cars + 2/5ths Utopia + 1/5th Tubes =
1 Unholy Blashphemous Musical Alliance That Must Be Stopped At All Costs!

Welcome to the homepage of Z.I.N.C., a group of like-minded individuals who have absolutely Zero Interest in the New Cars.

In case you haven't heard, one of the finest group of new-wave tunesters is back on the road again, now fronted by that chameleon of pop music Todd Rundgren. This must be the only case in history of a band reuniting with a new singer even older than the one he is replacing.

Now I have nothing but respect for old T.R., and furthermore can't think of many albums I would rate above the first two releases from The Cars, but this thing they have wrought just does not work. But don't just take my word for it, see for yourself here:

I can see why both Ric Ocasek and Ben Orr, the two members who shared lead vocal duties in The Cars, opted out of this reunion. Well, Ben didn't have a choice, because he died. But I have to think if he could have predicted the future, he would have had a hard choice choosing between the painful death he suffered, or dying a thousand deaths on stage every night with The New Cars.

UPDATE: OK, I have softened up a little on this whole issue. The new song has kind of grown on me a bit, but I still think this is a mistake overall. I will say that Elliot Easton does a scortching guitar solo towards the end of this track, but I could do without Rundgren's over-the-top imitation of Ocasek's vocal quirks. Plus, mentioning "e-mail," and "Blackberry" in the same song is distracting and instantly dates the piece. We will all be laughing at those lines in a couple years, if we are still listening to this at all...

I still remember how excited I was the day my mom took me to the Music Stop on Woodward in Ferndale, MI, to pick up my copy of Candy-O on 8-track. Even though that tape got jammed up in my Panasonic years ago, I still think it is one of the few sophomore releases by any rock band that actually manages to top the debut.

Still, I can't help wishing that they would have called this project anything else other than "The New Cars." I wouldn't even have minded a couple Cars covers. You can't argue with the fact that these guys are all great players, and I don't blame them for wanting to get out on the road again. But I think when we look back on this years from now, this "Vegas" version of The Cars will alienate more fans than they will ever win over.

The combination of Ben Orr and Ric Ocasek alone would have sent a lesser group's output right to the top of the charts. But a band that doesn't include either of them has no right calling themselves The Cars.

-Rob "Nuclear Boots" Disner
Founder and President of Z.I.N.C.

Receiving plenty of feedback lately on this page. Here is some of it:

"As an original fan of The Cars it does somewhat leave a sour taste in a fan's mouth when we hear "it's about the money". It disappoints us greatly to hear that the original band won't reunite. I would have left The Cars who and what they were--some bands just can't be replicated.

"The Cars were about being cool, sleek & mysterious aloof technofiles. The New Cars seem to portray themselves as some local yahoos you would see at your local town fair or VFW gig."

"I just heard the first single from the New Cars album and as a long-time fan of Todd and the original Cars I must say... it sucked. I honestly hope the rest of the album is better. Nothing like grey haired fat wrinkly guys try to rock out. I still LOVE my old UTOPIA and CARS cds."



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