Album Review: Showroom of Compassion by Cake

Half of the time, it feels like Cake are stuck in a time warp circa 1978 with psychedelic rock fringed guitars and moaning organ keys. The other half of the time, Cake sound more contemporary with melodic prints that weave shimmering violins and traipsing synth-based sequences. The quartet's latest release Showroom Of Compassion from Upbeat Records is a potpourri laden with avant pop cuts, rippling horns, and a folksy flange in their guitars. Helmed by John McCrea, Cake are fashioned to be a pop band that exceeds the domain of standard pop music. Fusing the old with the modern, Cake have carved out a niche for themselves that shows a kindred connection to other avant garde artists such as The Hold Steady and Deerhoof. There are bound to be people who find Cake's music to be quite ordinary and others who will find it innovative and fresh and those people will be the ones born after 1978.

One of the most fascinating attributes in Cake's music is their use of horns which are usually prevalent in jazz and chamber music, but Cake have found another way to look at horns and that is as a rich texture to enhance pop based melodies. Cake use the horns to their advantage in "Federal Funding" and "Long Time" which give these tracks character with the blazing furls of Vincent DiFiore's trumpet. Guitarist Xan McCurdy creates a Beatlesque groove in "Got To Move" while bassist Gabriel Nelson maintains a low key throbbing. The band's revolving door of drummers which consists of Paulo Baldi, Tom Monson, Aaron Redfleld, and Pete McNeal have little affect on changing Cake's music, but the pedal steel played by Charlie Wallace on "Bound Away" gives the track a country folk flavoring. The subtle jitters in the percussion's swagger along "What's Now Is Now" has a rawness relatable to The Rolling Stones, and the funky groove embedded in "Mustache Man" could have been a theme song to a '70s sitcom. McCrea's neatly structured piano vamp opening, "Teenage Pregnancy" is ramped up with striking guitar chords complimented by the gentle billow of DiFiore's trumpet.

Cake take pop music beyond the brink of standard pop's regiment and embrace textures outside of the parameters of mainstream music. Cake mold these textures skillfully into pop music's fabric.

Personnel:
John McCrea - vocals and piano, Vincent DiFiore - trumpet and keyboards, Xan McCurdy - guitars, and Gabriel Nelson - bass guitar

Tracklisting:
Federal Funding, Long Time, Got To Move, What's Now Is Now, Mustache Man, Teenage Pregnancy, Sick Of You, Easy To Crash, Bound Away, The Winter, Italian Guy

Website:
www.cakemusic.com