Outsider Punk Rock Debut is Uneven But Occasionally Fun
Written: Apr 17 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: A promising debut album that has clever lyrics and earnest performances
Cons: Sparse and un-skillfully performed tracks are sometimes rough on the ears
The Bottom Line: "Delicious" was the experemental and low budget debut album by Cake Like, and those interest in exploring their music might try later releases instead.
easterbradford's Full Review: Delicious by Cake Like
Cake Like began as an L.A. based band fronted by actress and comedienne Kerri Kenny. Kenny is best known for the work she has done with various members of the comedy troupe "The State," whose MTV sketch show of the same name was extrmely popular. She has gone on to star in other shows and films, but her first love of music has kept her band together.
"Delicious" was an independant release that belied a group of young women whose desire to create and perform did not match with their musical skill. However, in the world of punk rock, a lack of great ability on guitar or poor vocals does not always hamper an interesting listen, and sometimes earnestness pays off.
"Delicious" is undoubtedly the weakest of Cake Like's three releases to date. Fairly difficult to find, it features a menagerie of songs that all have a similar sound. Sparse, featuring guitars, drums and vocals, the tracks are actually well written lyrically, but may leave the listener wondering if the music is to be taken seriously.
Kenny, as lead vocalist and the main songwriter, weaves cheeky stories worthy of telling by Courtney Love, but often her uneven vocals aren't as convincing in their aggression. Very often they revolve around things from childhood that were percieved then as intense dramas, but when relayed as adults, just sound silly.
"Bum Leg" is a perfect example of this. A flowing, almost surfer-like guitar melody is woven in the background as Kenny lists varous friends who would ask her if she could "come out and play." Her reply, though, was always "I can't/wanna know why?/'Cause I've got a bum leg." This erupts into Green-Day like staccatto strums and she repeats, screaming, "Got a bum leg! Got a bum leg!"
"Suck" tells of a little girl escaping from the thunder into her father's bed, while "Sweet 15" is a bittersweet relaying of the loss of virginity to someone who may have been a manipulative older authority figure ("Congratulations/you're the winner of the 1988 4-H fair tomato growing contest/You sure do have a cute way about you, little girl.")
One of the best written songs has the most simplistic lyrics. In "Jane," Kenny sings of a girl who has netted the boy she likes, and in apology buys her gifts. "Jane brings me lots of things/but lots of things don't matter," she croons, "Jane makes three."
"Delicious" is perhaps an album best suited for those who are already fans of Cake Like's later work. Their skill and sound only improved with subsequent releases. This debut showed promise of things to come, but is a difficult listen, even for fans of the most experemental music.
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