Cake, Pressure Chief

Danceability is not the typical descriptor I would give a Cake album, but this one gets your boogie bouncing. It's not just the horns and John McCrea's vocals, though those persist and flourish; it's also the newly phattened backgrounds with Xan McCurdy's heavier bass and Moogy synthesizers, all of which are so expertly paired that none of it comes across as gimmicky. The lyrics have sharpened up, too: "Wheels" captures the exile inherent in a relationship on the rocks (favourite line: "muscular cyborg German dudes"), "No Phone" could apply to any introvert anywhere desperately trying to escape, and while it's a Bread cover "The Guitar Man" paints the perfect picture of a flawed man who just wants to jam. It's still more evolution than revolution; "Take It All Away" is clearly inspired by their earlier cover of "I Will Survive," light songs like "She'll Hang The Baskets" and "End of the Movie" are really stylistic throwbacks and while "Carbon Monoxide" is sassy it's just a little too on the nose. But it's the groove and sheer exuberance of songs like "Dime," "Palm Of Your Hand" and particularly the album's finest moment "Waiting" that simply make you swing and sing, and not a track on this disc feels like a pop sellout in the end. (Content: F-bombs on "Carbon Monoxide.")

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Cake, Comfort Eagle

It's a fair cop to say this album is more of the same, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but the innovation of Fashion Nugget isn't nearly as innovative the second time around (the perplexing Prolonging the Magic notwithstanding). There's still snark and satire ("Commissioning a Symphony in C") and odd name dropping ("Meanwhile, Rick James ..." though I like the beat), but they take a backseat to the character studies ("Opera Singer," probably one of the album's most inspired moments, or "Shadow Stabbing") and lyrics which on balance manage to be more thought-provoking than simply perfunctory. Unfortunately, the stylistic variety isn't nearly as sophisticated; the arrangements skew more conventional alternative, and somewhat to its detriment, though John McCrea's vocals still cut effectively through the occasional moments of ennui. Indeed, the standout jam ("Short Skirt/Long Jacket") is really just a bowdlerized "Frank Sinatra," with the same vocal rap but rhythm guitar instead of organ, and his voice isn't enough to save the title track which throws a lot of catchphrases around in a bid for relevance but ends up being aggressive nonsense ("Dude!"). Likewise, the closer "World of Two" almost achieves the stark acidity of "Friend is A Four Letter Word" but its interesting chord choices don't benefit much from the more-of-the-same-style production. I'll give them a pass on this record and suggest at the parent-teacher conference that they're bright and they'd get better grades if they just sat down and did the work. (Content: no concerns.)

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Cake, Fashion Nugget

Something of a debut, and something of the fashion, even though it's actually their second record and noticeably, almost obtusely, sui generis. I like the determined horns, the stripped down but clean guitars and the snide delivery of frontman John McCrea; any album that leads off with a reedy organ and a throwaway Sinatra reference at least earns their audience with sheer oddity. In similar fashion, "The Distance," the album's stand-out single, combines brass, bass and almost beatboxy vocals together into a throwback sound that makes you swear you're right at the racetrack with them. Impressively, the music is matched at intervals by lyrics at least as well constructed (such as "Open Book" and particularly the acerbic "Friend Is a Four-Letter Word"), and the sometimes surprising mix of genres wins points for originality. Unfortunately this otherwise promising album also has a number of significant deficiencies, such as a questionable overreliance on covers (including their infamous F-bomb in the otherwise clever retread of "I Will Survive," provoking Gloria Gaynor's everlasting disdain), useless or inscrutable filler like "Race Car Ya-Yas" and "Daria," and the obnoxious "Nugget" which features profanity without a purpose and attitude without a clue. But the country influence is skillful and unique ("She'll Come Back To Me," the Willie Nelson smirker "Sad Songs and Waltzes") and when the style works it's refreshing, proving that alternative bands don't have to be grungy to be interesting. (Content: F-bombs on "I Will Survive" and "Nugget," sexual themes on "Italian Leather Sofa.")

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