When I was thinking about reviewing the latest CD by Cake, the quirky post-pop, post-punk, post-modern, post-everything group of smart-a-double-dollar-signs from Sacramento, I really had to resist using a number of obvious puns. “Let them eat Cake”, “Have your Cake and eat it too”, “Piece of Cake”… you know the drill. I’m certain they’ve all been used somewhere on Epinions. Anyhow, I resisted it. I’m sure some of you are very happy about that fact.

Though I’ve never owned a Cake CD up until this one, I’ve always appreciated Cake - or at least, the stuff I heard on the radio. Their funky blend of lo-fi guitars, hip-hop beats and bumping bass lines, 70’s-style synthesizers, sharp and sometimes off-key trumpets, and John McCrea’s deadpan vocals makes for a potent mixture unlike anything else out there, sometimes grating on the nerves, but mostly quite catchy and entertaining. Their lyrics range from humorous to bitter to downright bizarre - often in the same song. Most people were first turned onto the band by the cult favorite “Rock & Roll Lifestyle” from their first album (and a rather low-budget one at that), Motorcade of Generosity. A friend of mine from the Sacramento area had played me the song, but it wasn’t until later in 1996 when their sophomore album, Fashion Nugget, was released and the masses ate up the hit single “The Distance”, that I really became interested in Cake. (At first, I thought it was something from the movie Mission: Impossible, due to its spy-movie-esque guitar riff and seemingly heroic theme.) I couldn’t get that song out of my head, and further investigation into that CD revealed a few other entertaining songs, most notably the funky, irreverent cover of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”. But most of the album either bored or irritated me, to be honest. And the title track, “Nugget” (better known as “Shut the F--- Up”), really rubbed me the wrong way. So I passed on that album. 1999 rolled around, and Prolonging the Magic hit the scene - it too had some quirky songs, including the bouncy hit “Never There” and the unexpectedly clever “Satan Is My Motor”, but most of it was slow, and with Cake’s purposefully dry, under-produced sound, that didn’t make for a very interesting album. So once again, I passed, figuring maybe I’d hold out for a greatest hits album.

Well, it’s 2001, and Cake is still going strong. They’ve finally won me over with their latest album, curiously titled Comfort Eagle. It’s weird - they’ve lost members over the years (most notably their drummer, who has been replaced mostly by programming on this album), and yet I think their sound is stronger and their melodies are catchier. John McCrea seems to be finding his balance between speaking and singing. And while I wouldn’t say that any of these songs are as clever and memorable as “The Distance” or “Never There”, a few come pretty darn close, and the album, despite being the shortest Cake has ever released, is definitely their most consistent so far. They’re definitely still distinctively Cake - all of the aforementioned funky elements are still present. The lyrics still turn those expectedly unexpected corners that we’ve come to love Cake for. The trumpet still pierces several of these songs, deceiving the listener into a triumphant theme when sarcasm and cynicism run rampant. And the cover has almost the exact same design and color scheme as the last three albums. Only Cake can get away with all of this. I really can’t describe it much better, other than in detailing the songs (as I always do).

Opera Singer
Some people, they call me monster
Some people, they call me saint
My talent feeds my darker side
Yet no one will complain…
A comfortable drum loop starts off the album - Cake tends to hook you in with mellow grooves and then kick into the higher gears later on instead of starting off with a bang. John McCrea’s familiar, offbeat vocals begin to tell the story of the day in the life of a crooner from way before Frank Sinatra’s time (he already paid tribute to Sinatra on Fashion Nugget), sticking in a little bit of commentary on the world of high-class “cultured” celebrities as he does so. Trumpets begin to spice up the song, underpinned by a gritty guitar riff here and there, as this autobiography unfolds, and we’re never sure if this opera singer is a cultural hero or just an egomaniac who’s been told how great he is one too many times. I think the egomaniac takes over mostly, given that he “sings to Verdi’s grave” and proclaims in Armageddon-like terms (in that calm, even voice of his) that he’ll sing when we’re all dead. Kind of a weird thought to begin with, don’t ya think? It’s even weirder with the incessant clapping of hands going on in the background. That’s another Cake trademark - making it sounds like a group of schoolgirls is playing patty-cake in the background (DOH! Patty-cake! That one snuck up on me, I promise…)

Meanwhile, Rick James…
uninvited, we'll stay if we want
searching through your closets for your grandfather's gun…
Transitioning quite nicely out of “Opera Singer” and continuing at a similar pace, this tune hooks you in immediately with a sequence of guitar chords that is sure to get stuck in your head. The overall feel of this tune is one of mystery, like there’s something lurking just underneath the surface that you can’t quite place your finger on. I have no idea what this song is about, but it’s definitely not about Rick James. The image that comes into my head as John’s lyrics unfold is that of a bunch of friends making trouble at a house party. They’re ransacking the house for some reason, searching for clues to something - perhaps a murder mystery? It all comes back around to the chorus, “Meanwhile, Rick James takes her new, and there’s nothing I can do.” Perhaps Rick James’ music is being played at the party, and people find it to be super-freaky and seductive. Just a guess. In any case, this song will definitely throw you off with lines like “We’ll swim in your kidney” making you go “Say what?” until John finishes it off with “Kidney-shaped pool”. The beat, guitar, riffs, synths, and perky hand-clapping make this one a definite keeper.

Shadow Stabbing
Adjectives on the typewriter
He moves his words like a prize fighter
The frenzied pace of the mind inside the cell…
I’ve heard that this upbeat number was kind of an “orphan song” in Cake’s catalog - John had written it a while ago, and it just never found a home on any of their albums until now. Judging from the lyrics, I can see why. They start off quite clever, and it’s like John had a few really good lines, and then it just didn’t go anywhere. Most of the song is pretty repetitive. John seems to have sung all the way through the first three tracks, which is actually rather odd for Cake. I don’t know - it’s got a catchy tune and the guitar intro is classic Cake - lo-fi and almost dinky-sounding, but music to the ears all the same - but the repetitions of “say it all” and “The man on the street might just as well be” start to bug me after a few minutes. The man on the street might just as well be what, guys?

Short Skirt/Long Jacket
I want a girl who gets up early
I want a girl who stays up late
I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity
Who used a machete to cut through red tape…
Here you go. If you wanted classic Cake, you’ve got it with this tune. A single, high trumpet note sounds off to begin the song, and then the rhythm section joins in with a more mischievous guitar riff, and that occasional percussion effect that I can’t name, but that sounds like a rattlesnake (help me out here, Cake fans, you know what I’m talking about!) John uses his dead-pan speaking voice here as he describes his dream girl in rather odd terms. At times he kind of reminds me of a younger, testosterone-driven Ben Stein. For sure, this ain’t no boy-band fluff - John’s ideal woman doesn’t seem to be the swooning teenager type. Odd metaphors such as “sharp as a tack” and “fingernails that shine like justice” are the order of the day here, making the album’s current single one of the oddest love songs of the year. Some of the clever rhymes work here, and some don’t - John’s half-talk/half-rap falters at times, but for the most part, this is good stuff. The guys back John up with a few gang shouts in the background, echoing his little personal ad in song form. Yet another Cake trademark that keeps me coming back!

Commissioning a Symphony in C
Completely filling the palace concert hall
It's warm and golden like an oven that's wide open
It has a melody both happy and sad
Built on Victoria's young triads…
This song isn’t as punchy as the past few - it’s upbeat, but a little more smooth and dramatic. It starts off with s driving bass line, and John jumps in immediately, addressing an “Austrian nobleman” who is taxing the life out of the local peasants in order to have money to spend on aristocratic niceties like the musical masterpiece mentioned in the title. It’s almost like an attempt to cram a 19th-century literary epic into a three-minute pop song. It sort of succeeds. I don’t find the melody to be as catchy as some of the other tunes, but it’s still a fun song, as is the case with almost the entire album.

Arco Arena
Here we have a cute little instrumental, mostly picked out on what seems to be a Latin-flavored acoustic guitar, with the rest of the band providing the usual Cake rhythm and grit to keep it from being too pretty. Cake seems to have a fascination with cars (there is at least one song dedicated to cars, motors, etc. on each album), and this short little interlude would make for a great soundtrack to a dune-buggy race or something like that. It turns a few sharp rhythmic corners, but stays mostly in 4/4, and the classic background yells are there, “Hey!”, “Hyaah!”, and so forth, continuing Cake’s tradition of making subtle stabs at the hip-hop genre while playing music that has little to do with it.

Comfort Eagle
We are building a religion
A limited edition
We are now accepting callers
for the pendant key chains…
I said earlier that most Cake songs don’t hit you full in the face fight at the beginning, and this is the definite exception. The mood here is much darker and more furious than anything else on the album, or anything else I’ve heard from Cake so far. The percussion is heavier, the riffs are grittier, and the sarcasm is more cutting. John’s voice breaks into the song like an announcement coming over a PA system: “We are building a religion!” The song seems to jump around between multiple points of view, one minute taking the perspective of the money-grubbing corporation brainwashing the masses, and the next minute taking the point of view of a bemused radio caller who just wants to know what’s up with the whole thing. This song’s got great lyrics and a cool soundtrack to boot - likely the most sinister backing track since “The Distance”. A synthesizer plunks out a repeating sequence of notes here and there, and a clever percussion effect chimes in just as John proclaims “He is handling the money” - sounding like somebody went BAP! and knocked an usher to the floor while he was carrying the an offering tray during a Sunday service. At least, that’s the odd vision that pops into my head. The exclamations of “DUDE!” only serve to remind everyone that Northern California has big plans to take over the world. (Make that hella plans to take over the world.) A lone trumpet joins in at the end, playing a somber lament over the furious musical sounds cape, and then everything fades out, leaving the listener both amused and confused. Was that an indictment of televangelists, perhaps? Capitalism? Radio shock-jocks? Who knows, but it’s brilliant.

Long Line of Cars
You don't wonder where we're going
Or remember where we've been
We've got to keep this traffic
Flowing and accept a little spin…
Guess what - it’s another Cake song about cars! The tempo backs off a bit here, a slow synth line introducing a mid-tempo, bumping rhythm that sounds like a disco slowed down (hearkening back to their amusing cover of “I Will Survive”, where the bass was half the appeal of the song). I think this one is a swipe at the maddening traffic constantly plaguing Los Angeles - too many people trying to get to too many places all at once. Whoever John is singing the song to, he blames it on him or her, but then later turns around and blames the traffic jam on himself. Did someone cause an accident? Or are all these cars here because a celebrity is present? It’ll take a couple more trips through Cake-land to figure that one out. That is, if John even has a clear idea in mind when he writes these things. In any case, the song is punctuated by a repeating staccato trumpet line that draws the song to a close, transitioning smartly into the next tune.

Love You Madly
I don't want to fake it
I just want to make it
The ornaments look pretty
But they're pulling down the branches of the tree…
Woo-hoo! Disco fever! Well, sort of. Cake likes to draw from genres as diverse as disco, hip-hop, grunge rock, and even country. Here, the bas grabs hold once again for a more upbeat tune, a playful declaration of love (or more likely, lust) to a young woman who has caught John’s eye. The theme is subtle, but I think I catch it - John is attracted to her and he wants to dive in head-first and just have a good time, and not have to worry about long-term commitment,. I can’t say that I agree with that stance, but John pulls it off with a witty come-on that rivals some of Dave Matthews’ better sex-oriented songs. Nothing here is too specific - just a subtle invitation to make the “dishes rattle in the cupboards when the elephants arrive”. I’d swear that during the bridge, the bass line sounds uncomfortably close to, uh… that song that “Rapper’s Delight” ripped off its bass line from. I’m drawing a blank right now. As the tune fades out, you can hear a car peeling out of the driveway and taking off down the street - you just enjoy loving ‘em and leaving ‘em, don’t you, John? Tsk, tsk.

Pretty Pink Ribbon
Without your tight little denim
Your virtues would all go unknown
Without the room that you live in
Your cancer would eat through the bone…
This has got to be the poppiest and catchiest that Cake gets. This tune is dripping with melody, built around an effect-drenched guitar that might remind some of Weezer. But then, you’ve got your little trumpet fiesta going on, making sure that you don’t forget who you’re listening to. Deceptively, this is the happiest-sounding tune on the record, but it’s really a subtle indictment of a wolf in sheep’s clothing - a girl who gets people to like her by looking pretty on the outside. John sees right through her façade, and tells her that “without the pretty pink ribbon, you’d end up just like me”. It may sound a little mean, but it also poses an interesting question: How many of us like people just because they’re cute and perky? Sometimes it’s better to just be honest and admit you can be a wretched person at times. John seems to have no problem admitting that here.

World of Two
I don't want to hear you whisper
I don't want to orbit your world of two…
From the title, you were probably expecting an intimate love song to end the album, right? Wrong! Come on, this is Cake we’re talking about. A lot of Cake fans have whined about this song being slow and sparse, but come on, the whole album was pretty upbeat, and what did you do, just sleep through Prolonging the Magic? This is a great song, in my opinion - one of the best on the album. It’s not as immediately catchy - it’s mostly driven by bass and another touch of Latin guitar. That and the trumpets really make Cake sound like a sedated mariachi band on this song. Now,. I have to ask a question: How many of you reading this are single and tired of seeing couples everywhere you go? It’s not that you think anything bad of them or anything - you just don’t want to see them everywhere you go and you wish they wouldn’t act like the only important people in the universe. That’s what John must have been dealing with when he wrote this little tune. I can definitely relate. It drives me nuts when friends who are dating whisper to each other and play cutesy little games knowing that everyone else is watching. It’s like they don’t realize when they’re not alone. In any case, give this song another listen if it didn’t do much for you the first time. Maybe you just have to be at a certain point in life for it to be meaningful. The most brilliant thing about the song is when John says, “It’s not that I don’t think you are two of the most perfectly beautiful people in your world.” Did you catch that? Your world, not the world. Clever.

I can tell that this CD is gonna be great for road trips or nights out on the town with friends. Cake has a great talent for being sarcastic without being overly negative - the music is so darn happy so much of the time. It works when you’re happy, and it works when you’re ticked off at the world. Any band who can bring together so many elements that would sound downright awful in the hands of most modern rock acts and make them sound good deserves respect in my book. Heck, they deserved respect in my book just for making “I Will Survive”, the most cliché and overused sorority-sister anthem of all time, accessible to the guys - but that was another album. Maybe I need to go back and give those older albums another chance now. But I still think Comfort Eagle is their best yet.

TRACK REVIEW SUMMARY
Excellent: Comfort Eagle, Meanwhile Rick James...
Good: Long Line of Cars, Love You Madly, Opera Singer, Short Skirt/Long Jacket, Pretty Pink Ribbon, World of Two
Decent: Shadow Stabbing, Commissioning a Symphony in C, Arco Arena
Weak: NONE
Skippable: NONE

Band Members:
John McCrea: Lead vocals, guitars
Xan McCurdy: Guitars
Vince Di Fiori: Trumpet
Gabe Nelson: Bass

Website: http://www.cakemusic.com


Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Driving