“I have wasted so much time,” John McCrea sings halfway through the new Cake album Showroom of Compassion (in stores tomorrow), the idiosyncratic, irony-drenched band’s first new record in more than six years. What’s changed in all that time? Seemingly little, though Cake’s classic sound—sterile electric guitars, playful trumpets, and lots of half-sung, hipper than thou vocal posturing—has gone through a gritty, reverb-coated makeover, with Xan McCurdy’s guitar chords crunching and echoing through lo-fi, mid-tempo rockers like “Mustache Man (Wasted)” and “Federal Funding”, the latter’s drunken swagger and retro, cheap keyboard tones giving Showroom a more tangible, handmade feel than the uptight, forced cool of previous efforts. Instrumental track “Teenage Pregnancy” features some unexpectedly effective upright piano, its neo-classical waltz filled out with warm punches of bass and trumpet. The mid-record, uptempo bop of “Sick Of You” is a spot-on revival of the band’s classic sound, its catchy melody and spoken word middle section interspersed with trademark shout-back vocals. Integrating old school video game sound effects (“Easy To Crash”), Spanish acoustic guitars (“What’s Now Is Now”), and even a string section (the outstanding chamber pop nugget “Italian Guy”), Cake have returned sounding very much like themselves with enough nuance and switch-ups to (almost) merit a six year hiatus. BYO tongue, cheek, and trucker hat.
Sum-ology: A lo-fi, reverb-drenched take on the band’s classic sound. Fun and gritty, if not a little same old same old.
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