Blind Spot: Cake Retrospective

Cake. Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to Blind Spot, where we take time to dig into something big in the cultural zeitgeist we might have missed. A retrospective that’s also a first time perspective. What’s old to you, is new to someone else and in the spirit of that I present to you my Cake Retrospective. My history with Cake came during my high school days, when I was deep into my music discovery era, and at the time, my then-girlfriend and I would split the music. She would pick one band and I’d pick a similar band, and we’d listen to them separately and then discuss. In this instance, she chose Cake and I chose Beck. I still love the entire Beck catalog but I never took the time to dig into what made Cake such a mainstream success until now. Here are my thoughts and favorites  as I’ve gone through the entire Cake discography.

Motorcade of Generosity (1993)

• Comanche- is such a good drunken sing along song that I can imagine an entire bar slurring along to every lyric. 

• Pentagram- is a fascinating dip into blue grass that kind of tells me what I need to know about Cake. They really can do it all. 

• You Part the Waters- devolves into some weird places, starting with a piano intro then flipping to some Primus styled guitar and of course the horns, then an orchestral interlude? This one's a journey. 

• Rock N Roll Lifestyle- finally feels like the band has something to say. I was kind of hoping for something a little more meaningful and I finally got it. 

Album Overview: I can see that this was the band really trying to hone their sound while exploring ALL the spaces in between. From bluegrass, to orchestra, they are still in their growth phase here, but the potential is definitely there. This whetted my appetite for more and acted as a great introduction. 

Fashion Nugget (1996)

• Frank Sinatra pairs a slow crooning, smooth style plus a bass and keyboard solo with noir-y horns. This is the first song to really make me a fan. The way each instrument is organized and layered has me hooked. 

• The Distance is such a hip hop not hip hop song that  might be the best Cake song period 

• Friend Is A Four Letter Word is hauntingly sad. Melancholic and introspective. 

• I Will Survive It was awesome to see a cover on an album, let alone an interesting twist on a classic. There was a brief phase when bands would include covers, but that time has long gone, but I Will Survive is such a unique take on the classic Donna Summer song that it stands on its own and separates itself from the original. 

• Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps sounds like a drunken saloon limerick. I’m starting to see a trend here in what to expect from Cake. 

Album Overview: Yeah, at this point the band is officially standing on its feet now declaring exactly who they are. They are shifting from fantastic covers, haunting introspection, genre bending pop and songs sung at closing time at your local dive bar. They are a very specific vibe but kind of a lot of different, very specific vibes all at once and I am loving all of them. 

Prolonging the Magic (1998)

• Is there a more wholesome song than Satan is My Motor? A feel good little ditty that just puts me in a good mood

• Never There is obviously a peak single with that funky bass line, vocals with attitude and slow build horns. There’s a reason they are one of the best bands of the 90’s.  

• Walk On By is a fantastic twangy dip into a southern country style. It amazes me how Cake flows between genres so fluidly. 

• Sheep Go to Heaven melds right from Walk On By almost like a part 2 of a 3 part saga and I love it. 

• When You Sleep feels like a twangy mellow epic, and if you told me they were the three acts of a single story, I’d believe it. Rising and falling as the story unfolds. 

• Cool Blue Reason plays as a melancholy walk through a dusty desolate town with a bit of a hip hop vibe. 

Album Overview: A largely melancholy low energy album that is all about the vibes. It's reflective, it’s isolating but also rarely negative. Just sitting on a bus reflecting on your life as a whole. This album gave me a lot of room to think and I love it for that. It may not have the energetic bangers of the previous album but I felt a warm calming feeling the more I spent time with it. 

Comfort Eagle (2001)

• Shadow Stabbing and Short Skirt/Long Jacket are the radio hits I’ve been most aware of, and for good reason. These songs both just hit the right spots in my ear holes.

• Commissioning A Symphony in C seems like a deeper story I’d love to learn more about. It drops breadcrumbs of details to the point that it seems super specific but I was unable to get the full picture and I love it. 

• Comfort Eagle is a perfect anti-establishment rebellious song. This made me want to protest anything, and in the current political climate, we need it more than ever. 

• Love You Madly is one I’ve absorbed through cultural osmosis but mostly for that infectious guitar rift and those love stricken lyrics. This song lives rent free in my head. 

Album Overview: Ah, the Cake I’m familiar with now. Cake continues to impress me with how they are able to create vivid musical landscapes that tell a deep and compelling story, even if it’s unclear what the full story is. It’s nothing if not incredibly compelling. 

Pressure Chief (2004)

• The bass line and guitar riffs of Wheels are how you start an album! A slow build to more Cake greatness. What more can you ask for? 

• Carbon Monoxide: do I sense a little DVO mixed with Green Day? A bouncy tune that encourages a chanting crowd then shifts to a high amount of synth keys. 

• She’ll Hang the Baskets is more of that crooning country twang. At this point I’d welcome a full Cake Country album, they do it so well. 

• End Of The Movie: what a little sad personal song about not wanting to say goodbye, . This fits right in with any emotional death or breakup scene in a movie or TV show. Then it ends abruptly, kind of like life. I don’t know, but this one got me. 

• Tougher Than It Is is a perfect encapsulation of overthinking or overcomplicating life that really speaks to me on a personal level. I think it’s a pretty universal statement that we could all take to heart.  

Album Overview: This album proved the emotional range that Cake can achieve when given the opportunity. I loved the ups and downs, twists and turns of what proves to be, some ongoing fantastic storytelling. 

Showroom of Compassion (2010)

• Federal Funding is another anti-corpo song that would be welcome at any protest or march. I love it. 

• Long Time is an obvious dedication to the fans that missed them within their 6 year gap between albums. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to wait that long for more Cake greatness, but it still stands out as a return to form for the band. 

• Teenage Pregnancy is an instrumental spiral into the despair and uncertainty of what can come with an unwanted pregnancy. It’s an instrumental journey with plenty of twists and turns, and every instrument is used with clear purpose. I felt this deep in my bones, despite never experiencing this myself. 

• Bound Away is the token country bar anthem that we’ve come to expect from Cake and the album is better for it. 

• Italian Guy comes straight out of a Wes Anderson film. It's so wild how Cake can pin down a single style and hit it so perfectly. 

Album Overview: The weakest of the Cake offerings in my opinion, yet still impresses from beginning to end. Moving from protest songs, spiraling disparity, country to pop elegance. 

Other Notes

No one works a tambourine, vibraslap, cowbell or egg shaker like this band. It really amazed me how much of a visual tapestry and layered orchestration Cake presents in each individual album. They weave back and forth effortlessly and span all genres at breakneck speeds. I found myself continuing to come back to Cake after writing this article, if only to reflect on the songs that punched me in the gut with regrets, emotional spiraling and introspection. Cake became my thoughtful band, but also my drinking band, my anthem band, my rebellion protest band, my quick little jaunty tune band. That’s the thing about Cake. I’ve discovered they are sort of all encompassing. They hit all points, and can be for anyone in any mood. I’m kind of surprised by how universal they are. They aren’t my favorite band, but I’ve discovered how comprehensive their sound can be. Cake is a band for everyone and it’s really cool to be able to achieve that in such a divisive world.