Cake (band)
Encyclopedia
Cake is an American alternative rock
band from Sacramento, California
. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore
, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson
and drummer Paulo Baldi
, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and their wide-ranging musical influences, including country music
, Mariachi
, rock
, funk
, Iranian folk music
and hip-hop
.
Cake was formed in 1991 by McCrea, DiFiore, Greg Brown, Frank French
and Shon Meckfessel, who soon left and was replaced by Nelson. Following the self-release of its debut album, Motorcade of Generosity
, the band was signed to Capricorn Records
in 1995 and released its first single, "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle
", which hit number 35 on the Modern Rock Tracks
music chart and was featured on MTV
's 120 Minutes
; French and Nelson then left the band, and were replaced by Todd Roper and Victor Damiani
. Cake's second album, Fashion Nugget
, was released in 1996; on the strength of the lead single, "The Distance
", it went platinum. Following a tour of Europe and the United States, both Brown and Damiani announced they were leaving Cake, which led to speculation about the band's future; McCrea eventually recruited Xan McCurdy to take over on guitar, and persuaded Nelson to return.
Prolonging the Magic
, the band's third album, was released in 1998 and went platinum, having shipped over one million units; this was followed three years later by Comfort Eagle
, the band's first album on Columbia Records
, featuring the single "Short Skirt/Long Jacket
" which hit number 7 on the Modern Rock Tracks
chart. Following a series of tours, including several versions of the Unlimited Sunshine Tour
, the band released Pressure Chief
in 2004, its second and last album on Columbia. After creating its own label, Upbeat Records
, the band released Showroom of Compassion
in 2011, which became its first album to debut at the top of the Billboard charts, selling 44,000 copies in the first week after release.
native who had moved to Los Angeles
with a band only to see it "quickly crumble around him", returned to Sacramento. He began looking for a new band to play with, having "grown tired of Sacramento's coffeehouse circuit", and quickly attracted trumpet player Vince DiFiore
, guitarist Greg Brown, bassist Shon Meckfessel and drummer Frank French
. All were active in the music scene at the time; DiFiore notes that "[McCrea] came back and stole us from other bands". The band soon came up with the name "Cake"; rather than referring to the foodstuff, the name is meant to be "like when something insidiously becomes a part of your life...[we] mean it more as something that cakes onto your shoe and is just sort of there until you get rid of it". McFessel soon left to attend college, and was replaced by Gabe Nelson
. After touring and becoming part of the club scene in San Francisco, the band independently recorded and released Motorcade of Generosity
in 1994, selling copies from their van as a method of paying touring expenses.
Motorcade was named one of the best indie releases of 1994 by Pulse!
, and after a concert at the Great American Music Hall
Bonnie Simmons
agreed to manage the band, leading to them signing a deal with Capricorn Records
, who re-released the album in 1995. The first single, Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle
, hit number 35 on the Modern Rock Tracks
music chart and was featured on MTV
's 120 Minutes
. Critical reactions to the album were largely positive; Stephen Thompson in the Wisconsin State Journal
described it as possessing "great lyrics, creative instrumentation and production that's about as simple as production gets", Thomas Conner praised it for being "soulful and smooth, witty and gritty, this record makes the ghosts of Bob Wills, Buddy Holly and Lou Reed smile" in the Tulsa World
, and Matt Weitz in the Dallas Observer
noted its "gimlet eye and sardonic humor". The album was eventually nominated for a Bammy Award
in the category of "Outstanding Debut Album".
Nevertheless, some critics were less appreciative; John Wirt, in The Advocate, praised the album's sense of humour and "delicious" irreverence but noted that "[the] musicianship in Motorcade of Generosity suggests the Cake guys are mediocre players". Mindy LaBernz, in The Austin Chronicle, described the album as "cover-free, and, since we're on the subject, genre-free. A quartet made five by a trumpet player, Cake carry themselves with the snittiness of technically proficient, lyrically aware music lovers, who are almost anachronistically untrendy and brazenly proud of it". The signing to Capricorn and re-release of Motorcade led to both French and Nelson leaving the band, citing their dislike of "the prospect of extensive national touring"; they were replaced by Todd Roper and Victor Damiani
respectively.
, Cake's second album, was released on September 17, 1996. Like Motorcade, it was produced by the band and released on Capricorn Records. Cake considered the album more professionally produced than Motorcade, despite references to its "raw" sound, and the reception was again generally positive; critics noted the broadening of Cake's sound, with Joshua Green noting in the Westword
that "Nugget spans a broader range of topics than did Motorcade, with similarly appealing results", and Matt Weitz in the Dallas Observer saying that "The gimlet eye and sardonic humor of 1994's Motorcade of Generosity is intact, but Fashion Nugget is aptly named; it updates Motorcade with beatboxy soul and hip-hop rhythms". The album's first single, "The Distance
", written by Greg Brown, became the band's biggest hit to date and is considered their "ubiquitous" song; it hit number 5 on the RPM Alternative 30
, and entered the Modern Rock Tracks top 5.
On the strength of "The Distance", Fashion Nugget was certified gold on December 9, 1996 and platinum on April 10, 1997. The second single from Fashion Nugget, a cover of the Freddie Perren
and Dino Fekaris song "I Will Survive", hit number 38 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Although the band described it as a serious take on the original, one they'd been playing live for years, original performer Gloria Gaynor
considers it her least favorite version of the song due to its use of profanity. Following Fashion Nuggets release, the band toured the United States, playing in cities including Tulsa
, Chicago
, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles
, San Antonio, and Dallas. They later toured overseas, visiting the United Kingdom
as a support act for Counting Crows
, playing their own shows alongside the tour at venues including Dingwalls
in London. The band also toured Japan
; a later tour of the US, starting in Minneapolis in June 1997, was cancelled due to illness when McCrea was diagnosed with "fatigue and extreme exhaustion". After McCrea recovered, the band continued touring, playing at the Big Stink festival in Vancouver, Washington
, and the Jayhawk Music Festival in Lawrence, Kansas
.
1997 also saw lineup changes; bassist Victor Damiani and guitarist Greg Brown both left, prompting speculation about the band's survival; McCrea noted that "Musically, there was a really great symbiosis and I really felt that it (their departures, especially Brown's) was the most stupid thing in the world", and said that he had considered dissolving the band. Brown and Damiani formed the "new-wave influenced" Deathray
; their places within Cake were taken by Xan McCurdy and Gabe Nelson
, whom McCrea persuaded to rejoin the band.
; he wrote and produced every song. As a result of this experimentation, the album was noted as "loaded with spiced-up instrumentation, including a few new ingredients like the pedal steel guitar and musical saw thrown in for extra flavour". McCrea stated that he deliberately "approached writing this record without the guitar as the central assumption of all life in the universe". Music Week
described it as an "inspired collection of leftfield rock", while Thor Christensen of The Dallas Morning News
said that it "brims with the same dry humor the Sacramento band displayed in past hits such as 'The Distance' and 'Rock and Roll Lifestyle': The leadoff track, 'Satan Is My Motor,' puts a devilish new spin on the rock 'n' roll car-song tradition, while 'When You Sleep' revolves around the question of what your fingers do while the rest of the body snoozes". Other reviewers were less complimentary, with Mike Pattenden in The Times
writing that "Prolonging the Magic suggests that [Cake] may well be destined to go down as one-hit wonders ... While a handful stand out – the country waltz Mexico, You Turn the Screws and Hem of Your Garment – Prolonging the Magic shows McRea and company to be little more than an above average bar-room act. Cake are surviving on songwriting crumbs". The album peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200
, was listed in The Columbian
as the second best album of 1998, and eventually went platinum after shipping over 1 million units.
The album's first single, "Never There
", hit number 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, and was followed by "Let Me Go
" in 1999, which hit number 30. Following Prolonging the Magics release, the band toured the United States, playing in cities including San Diego and Los Angeles
. A tour of Europe was temporarily postponed in March after McCrea broke a bone in his hand moving furniture, which also led to the delay of the European release of Prolonging the Magic. Both the album release and the tour happened in mid-April, with Cake playing at the London Astoria
. Later show locations in North America included Chicago, St. Louis, Missouri
, and Toronto
. A third single, "Sheep Go to Heaven
", was released in 2001.
, the band signed a deal with Columbia Records
. Comfort Eagle was both produced and arranged by the band, and was recorded at Paradise Studios in Sacramento and Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco. Following the recording, drummer Todd Roper left the band, citing the demands extended touring would put on his time, and the commitments his two children represented. He was replaced by Pete McNeal. The album's release was preceded by the release of its first single, "Short Skirt/Long Jacket
", described as a parable about "the relationship between prosperity and the population boom ... There's nothing more procreational than economic prosperity". An accompanying video was directed by McCrea, and recorded using the DV
system; it featured vox populi
recordings of members of the public listening to the song and giving their opinion. "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" hit number 2 on the Bear Rock Top 10 in Canada and number 7 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks; the video became one of the 30 most requested tracks on MTV
; Billboard
writers later listed the video as the 5th best of 2001.
Comfort Eagle itself was released on July 24, 2001, to good reviews; Michael D. Clark of The Houston Chronicle described it as "Cake at its best", while a reviewer for the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
stated that the album's songs were "among the best of the band's career", praising McCrea for widening his vocal repertoire. James Montgomery, writing for UWIRE, noted a stylistic change, saying that "While the core sound of the band – honky tonk guitars, mariacchi horns and salsa rhythms – remain intact, they have been stripped down to the core, replaced instead with ill Casio beats, rubbery funk and Stax-style horn bleats". The album sold 22,000 copies in its first week, the highest sales in the band's history, and eventually went gold. With the exception of a slot at the Atlanta On The Bricks Festival, playing for 90,000 people, the band chose to start the tour with small rather than large shows, such as in the Sacramento area, where they played for around 100 people. They launched their first full tour for the album in September, playing in the United States, Canada and across Europe.
A second single, "Love You Madly", was released in 2002, with an accompanying video again produced by McCrea. The video featured DiFiore and McNeal competing in a cooking competition, judged by Rick James
, Phyllis Diller
and Jeff Smith
, and was noted by Billboard
as "continuing the fresh, witty, and downright fun style seen in the "Short Skirt" video". Cake had planned a second tour of Europe, followed by a series of shows around the United States, but in view of the September 11 attacks chose not to travel overseas. Instead, the band streamed
a performance internationally from the Yahoo!
headquarters in California, playing emailed requests. The United States tour went ahead as planned, with Cake playing concerts in Birmingham, Alabama
, St. Petersburg, Florida
, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas. This was followed by the Unlimited Sunshine Tour
, a traveling festival headlined and planned by the band and featuring Modest Mouse
, De La Soul
and The Flaming Lips
. A second Unlimited Sunshine Tour was undertaken in 2003, featuring Cake, Cheap Trick
and The Hackensaw Boys
.
, was recorded in June 2004 in a converted house in Sacramento; the album was again released on Columbia Records. Before its official release date on October 5, the band played at the Austin City Limits Music Festival
and KBCO
's World Class Rockfest. The album was also preceded by its first single, "No Phone
", which hit number 13 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart; the song covered the ubiquitous and privacy-invading use of cell phones, and was described by Jeremy Mahadevan of the New Straits Times
as "a traditionally minimalist Cake anthem, with a killer melody and, unique to this album, fairly extensive use of synths". A second single, "Wheels", was also released but failed to chart. Pressure Chief itself hit number 17 on the Billboard top 200, spending 7 weeks in the charts, and received mixed reviews from critics. Although it was acknowledged as a continuation of their old work, albeit with an increased use of synthesisers, Sam Spies of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
noted that "the experiments in style that made Cake fun to listen to have all but disappeared from 'Pressure Chief' ... What's left is mostly uninspired, so-called alternative rock", and Graeme Hammond of the Sunday Herald Sun wrote that "the melodies are listless, the album bereft of anything with the verve of Short Skirt/Long Jacket or Comfort Eagle".
Other critics were more generous; Doug Elfman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal
called it "another great and bizarre, twangy album of alternative-singer-songwriting stories about cars and horrible relationships", while a reviewer in the New Straits Times
noted its "smart, subtly dissident, and always catchy pop". Following Pressure Chiefs release, the band toured North America, playing in cities including Albany, New York
, and Montreal
. A second tour, in 2005, saw the band headline the 20-city Virgin College Mega Tour, playing alongside Gomez
; while the Tour was in California, the band announced that it had been dropped from Columbia Records. This was followed by a tour of Europe, as well as concerts in Australia
and Jakarta
, along with a 2006 repeat of the Unlimited Sunshine Tour, featuring Cake, Tegan and Sara
and Gogol Bordello
.
Cake later formed their own label, Upbeat Records
, which allowed them to release the compilation album
B-Sides and Rarities
on August 14, 2007. This was followed by a series of concerts, including at the IndigO2 in London
, and a performance in Anchorage, Alaska
. Reviews of B-Sides and Rarities were generally good; Devin Grant of The Post and Courier
wrote that "For an album full of odds and ends, this Cake release is every bit as good, and every bit as fun, as the band's previous studio releases", while Catherine P. Lewis of The Washington Post
noted that, although several live tracks reduced the album's strength, "there are still enough charming nuggets to make this album less disposable than the typical rarities compilation".
Showroom of Compassion (2011–present) After six years without a new studio album, Cake recorded Showroom of Compassion
in 2010 and released it on January 11, 2011. Rather than having it professionally recorded, the band built their own solar-powered studio in Sacramento over five years and chose to produce the album themselves there. The album was preceded by its first single, "Sick of You
", which was released in September 2010, hitting number 4 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The album itself opened at number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums, selling 44,000 copies; this marked not only the first time a Cake album had hit the number 1 spot in an opening week, but also the lowest sales numbers for an album at the top of that chart.
The album received fairly good reviews; Scott Bergen of The Record
described it as "one of their best albums", while Jim Farber of the Daily News wrote that "Fifteen years after they batted out their first left-field hit with 'The Distance,' the band's sound and words still have bite". George Lang of The Oklahoman
, however, wrote that it was "frustratingly lacking in many more songs worthy of the band's late-'90s boom period".
To promote the album, Cake performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
before releasing Showroom of Compassions second single, "Long Time". This was followed by a spring tour of both Europe and North America, concluding with a show in Toronto on May 21.
, Mariachi
, rock
, funk
, Iranian folk music
and hip-hop
. McCrea himself cites Hank Williams, Tom Zé
, the Golden Gate Quartet and Sly and the Family Stone as particular influences. The band is most often noted for three things: the prominence of DiFiore's trumpet lines, McCrea's ironic, sarcastic lyrics, and his "droll, deadpan ... monotone" vocals. DiFiore's trumpet work originated with McCrea's desire for a second melodic instrument to go with a song he had written; "A lead guitar playing those lines would have been really hokey. I like it when it's a contrapuntal thing, where the guitar is doing one melody, the vocal is doing another melody, and the trumpet plays this third melody. If the music can be transparent enough, you can hear all three at the same time".
and one MTV Video Music Award.
|-
| align="center" rowspan="4"| 2001 || Comfort Eagle || California Music Awards Outstanding Album ||
|-
| "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" || California Music Awards Outstanding Single ||
|-
| Comfort Eagle || California Music Awards Outstanding Modern Rock/Alternative Album ||
|-
| Cake || California Music Awards Outstanding Group ||
|-
| align="center"| 2002 || Short Skirt/Long Jacket || MTV VMA Breakthrough Video ||
Former members
Timeline
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band from Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. Consisting of singer John McCrea, trumpeter Vince DiFiore
Vince DiFiore
Vince DiFiore has been a member of the band Cake since 1991, and plays trumpet, keyboard, and auxiliary percussion. Born to parents Vincent Robert DiFiore Sr...
, guitarist Xan McCurdy, bassist Gabe Nelson
Gabe Nelson
Gabe Nelson is an American rock musician from Sacramento, California, best known as the bassist for the alternative rock band Cake. Nelson replaced the original bassist, Shon Meckfessel, who left Cake to attend college, soon after the band was formed...
and drummer Paulo Baldi
Paulo Baldi
Paulo Baldi is an American rock drummer and percussionist from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is currently a member of Cake, Les Claypool's Fancy Band, Deadweight, The Faraway Brothers, and the Eric McFadden Experience....
, the band has been noted for McCrea's sarcastic lyrics and deadpan voice, DiFiore's trumpet parts, and their wide-ranging musical influences, including country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, Mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, Iranian folk music
Music of Iran
The music of Iran has thousands of years of history, as seen in the archeological documents of Elam, one of the earliest world cultures,which was located in southwestern Iran...
and hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
Cake was formed in 1991 by McCrea, DiFiore, Greg Brown, Frank French
Frank French
Frank French is an American rock drummer from Sacramento, California. He is a former member of a number of bands like True West, TWR, the Inversions, and Cake. Notably, he was the original drummer for the latter band, departing from the band after the release of their debut album, Motorcade of...
and Shon Meckfessel, who soon left and was replaced by Nelson. Following the self-release of its debut album, Motorcade of Generosity
Motorcade of Generosity
Motorcade of Generosity is the first studio album by American alternative rock band Cake. It was released on 7 February 1994 on Capricorn Records.-Reissue:...
, the band was signed to Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
in 1995 and released its first single, "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle
Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle
"Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle" is the debut single by Sacramento alternative rock band Cake. This song was first played by KWOD . It was later released on Cake's debut album, Motorcade of Generosity...
", which hit number 35 on the Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
music chart and was featured on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
; French and Nelson then left the band, and were replaced by Todd Roper and Victor Damiani
Victor Damiani
Victor Damiani is a former bassist of the alternative rock band Cake. He played on Cake's first two albums, Motorcade of Generosity and Fashion Nugget...
. Cake's second album, Fashion Nugget
Fashion Nugget
Fashion Nugget is the second studio album by Cake, an alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. It was released in 1996, and contains 14 songs. "The Distance" became one of the band's biggest hits...
, was released in 1996; on the strength of the lead single, "The Distance
The Distance (song)
"The Distance" is a song by the American alternative rock band Cake. Released in 1996, "The Distance" was the second single from the band's second album Fashion Nugget, and considered one of their most popular songs...
", it went platinum. Following a tour of Europe and the United States, both Brown and Damiani announced they were leaving Cake, which led to speculation about the band's future; McCrea eventually recruited Xan McCurdy to take over on guitar, and persuaded Nelson to return.
Prolonging the Magic
Prolonging the Magic
Prolonging the Magic is the third studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 6 October 1998. It was recorded after the departure of guitarist Greg Brown and features a rotating lineup of musicians to replace him. One of them, Xan McCurdy, became his full-time replacement.The album was...
, the band's third album, was released in 1998 and went platinum, having shipped over one million units; this was followed three years later by Comfort Eagle
Comfort Eagle
Comfort Eagle is the fourth studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 24 July 2001. Comfort Eagle was Cake's first release on Columbia Records....
, the band's first album on Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, featuring the single "Short Skirt/Long Jacket
Short Skirt/Long Jacket
"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" is the first single by American alternative rock band Cake from their 2001 album Comfort Eagle.-Music video:The associated music vox pop video is composed entirely of people listening to the song on headphones and their reactions...
" which hit number 7 on the Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
chart. Following a series of tours, including several versions of the Unlimited Sunshine Tour
Unlimited Sunshine Tour
The Unlimited Sunshine Tour is an American traveling music festival headlined by alternative rock band Cake, and featuring an eclectic mix of bands from multiple musical genres....
, the band released Pressure Chief
Pressure Chief
Pressure Chief is the fifth studio album by American band Cake. It was released on October 5, 2004, pushed back from its original August release date. It was produced by the band and recorded in a converted house in Sacramento. It reached #17 on the Billboard 200 but fell to #55 the following week....
in 2004, its second and last album on Columbia. After creating its own label, Upbeat Records
Upbeat Records
Upbeat Records is an independent record label that releases the work of Cake.-History:Originally, Columbia Records requested that Cake release a greatest hits compilation, but the band promptly refused. During the legal fall-out, Cake formed its own record label and released B-Sides and Rarities....
, the band released Showroom of Compassion
Showroom of Compassion
Showroom of Compassion has so far been generally well received by music critics. Metacritic, a review aggregator website, gave the album an average score of 73% from fourteen reviews, which indicates "generally favourable reviews". Many critics complimented the band for sticking to their unique style...
in 2011, which became its first album to debut at the top of the Billboard charts, selling 44,000 copies in the first week after release.
Formation and Motorcade of Generosity (1991–1996)
Cake was formed in 1991 when John McCrea, a SacramentoSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
native who had moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with a band only to see it "quickly crumble around him", returned to Sacramento. He began looking for a new band to play with, having "grown tired of Sacramento's coffeehouse circuit", and quickly attracted trumpet player Vince DiFiore
Vince DiFiore
Vince DiFiore has been a member of the band Cake since 1991, and plays trumpet, keyboard, and auxiliary percussion. Born to parents Vincent Robert DiFiore Sr...
, guitarist Greg Brown, bassist Shon Meckfessel and drummer Frank French
Frank French
Frank French is an American rock drummer from Sacramento, California. He is a former member of a number of bands like True West, TWR, the Inversions, and Cake. Notably, he was the original drummer for the latter band, departing from the band after the release of their debut album, Motorcade of...
. All were active in the music scene at the time; DiFiore notes that "[McCrea] came back and stole us from other bands". The band soon came up with the name "Cake"; rather than referring to the foodstuff, the name is meant to be "like when something insidiously becomes a part of your life...[we] mean it more as something that cakes onto your shoe and is just sort of there until you get rid of it". McFessel soon left to attend college, and was replaced by Gabe Nelson
Gabe Nelson
Gabe Nelson is an American rock musician from Sacramento, California, best known as the bassist for the alternative rock band Cake. Nelson replaced the original bassist, Shon Meckfessel, who left Cake to attend college, soon after the band was formed...
. After touring and becoming part of the club scene in San Francisco, the band independently recorded and released Motorcade of Generosity
Motorcade of Generosity
Motorcade of Generosity is the first studio album by American alternative rock band Cake. It was released on 7 February 1994 on Capricorn Records.-Reissue:...
in 1994, selling copies from their van as a method of paying touring expenses.
Motorcade was named one of the best indie releases of 1994 by Pulse!
Pulse!
Pulse! was a tabloid magazine published by Tower Records which contained record reviews, interviews and advertising. Initially, it was given away free in their stores to promote their record sales. After nine years, in 1992, the magazine began national distribution with a cover price of $2.95,...
, and after a concert at the Great American Music Hall
Great American Music Hall
The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater...
Bonnie Simmons
Bonnie Simmons
Bonnie Simmons is a California based radio personality. Audio director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she is also a band manager, currently managing or having managed in the past Cake, Noe Venable and Etienne de Rocher.-References:**...
agreed to manage the band, leading to them signing a deal with Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
, who re-released the album in 1995. The first single, Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle
Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle
"Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle" is the debut single by Sacramento alternative rock band Cake. This song was first played by KWOD . It was later released on Cake's debut album, Motorcade of Generosity...
, hit number 35 on the Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
music chart and was featured on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
's 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
. Critical reactions to the album were largely positive; Stephen Thompson in the Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin State Journal
The Wisconsin State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin...
described it as possessing "great lyrics, creative instrumentation and production that's about as simple as production gets", Thomas Conner praised it for being "soulful and smooth, witty and gritty, this record makes the ghosts of Bob Wills, Buddy Holly and Lou Reed smile" in the Tulsa World
Tulsa World
Tulsa World is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma, and is the second-most widely circulated newspaper in the state, after The Oklahoman. It was founded in 1905 and remains an independent newspaper,...
, and Matt Weitz in the Dallas Observer
Dallas Observer
The Dallas Observer is a free alternative weekly newspaper distributed around the Dallas, Texas . At its inception, it was conceived as a weekly local arts and cinema review publication, with the credo "Advocate for Excellence in the Arts" on the cover. For a time during the early years, the paper...
noted its "gimlet eye and sardonic humor". The album was eventually nominated for a Bammy Award
BAM (magazine)
BAM , was a free bi-weekly music magazine founded and published by Dennis Erokan in the San Francisco Bay Area starting in January 1976 and continuing on for 23 years until 1999...
in the category of "Outstanding Debut Album".
Nevertheless, some critics were less appreciative; John Wirt, in The Advocate, praised the album's sense of humour and "delicious" irreverence but noted that "[the] musicianship in Motorcade of Generosity suggests the Cake guys are mediocre players". Mindy LaBernz, in The Austin Chronicle, described the album as "cover-free, and, since we're on the subject, genre-free. A quartet made five by a trumpet player, Cake carry themselves with the snittiness of technically proficient, lyrically aware music lovers, who are almost anachronistically untrendy and brazenly proud of it". The signing to Capricorn and re-release of Motorcade led to both French and Nelson leaving the band, citing their dislike of "the prospect of extensive national touring"; they were replaced by Todd Roper and Victor Damiani
Victor Damiani
Victor Damiani is a former bassist of the alternative rock band Cake. He played on Cake's first two albums, Motorcade of Generosity and Fashion Nugget...
respectively.
Fashion Nugget (1996–1998)
Fashion NuggetFashion Nugget
Fashion Nugget is the second studio album by Cake, an alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. It was released in 1996, and contains 14 songs. "The Distance" became one of the band's biggest hits...
, Cake's second album, was released on September 17, 1996. Like Motorcade, it was produced by the band and released on Capricorn Records. Cake considered the album more professionally produced than Motorcade, despite references to its "raw" sound, and the reception was again generally positive; critics noted the broadening of Cake's sound, with Joshua Green noting in the Westword
Westword
Westword is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Denver, Colorado.Westword was established independently in 1977. In 1983 it was bought by New Times Media. In 2005, New Times acquired Village Voice Media, and changed its name to Village Voice Media...
that "Nugget spans a broader range of topics than did Motorcade, with similarly appealing results", and Matt Weitz in the Dallas Observer saying that "The gimlet eye and sardonic humor of 1994's Motorcade of Generosity is intact, but Fashion Nugget is aptly named; it updates Motorcade with beatboxy soul and hip-hop rhythms". The album's first single, "The Distance
The Distance (song)
"The Distance" is a song by the American alternative rock band Cake. Released in 1996, "The Distance" was the second single from the band's second album Fashion Nugget, and considered one of their most popular songs...
", written by Greg Brown, became the band's biggest hit to date and is considered their "ubiquitous" song; it hit number 5 on the RPM Alternative 30
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
, and entered the Modern Rock Tracks top 5.
On the strength of "The Distance", Fashion Nugget was certified gold on December 9, 1996 and platinum on April 10, 1997. The second single from Fashion Nugget, a cover of the Freddie Perren
Freddie Perren
Frederick "Freddie" Perren was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor best known for as a co-songwriter and co-producer of such mega-hits as "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, and "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches &...
and Dino Fekaris song "I Will Survive", hit number 38 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Although the band described it as a serious take on the original, one they'd been playing live for years, original performer Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor
Gloria Gaynor is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits; "I Will Survive" , "Never Can Say Goodbye" , "Let Me Know " and "I Am What I Am" .-Early career:Gaynor was a singer with the Soul...
considers it her least favorite version of the song due to its use of profanity. Following Fashion Nuggets release, the band toured the United States, playing in cities including Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, San Antonio, and Dallas. They later toured overseas, visiting the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as a support act for Counting Crows
Counting Crows
Counting Crows is an American rock band originating from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1991, the group gained popularity following the release of its debut album in 1993, August and Everything After, which featured the hit single "Mr. Jones"...
, playing their own shows alongside the tour at venues including Dingwalls
Dingwalls
Dingwalls is a venue adjacent to Camden Lock in London, England. It houses bars, cafes, clubs . The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, T.E...
in London. The band also toured Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
; a later tour of the US, starting in Minneapolis in June 1997, was cancelled due to illness when McCrea was diagnosed with "fatigue and extreme exhaustion". After McCrea recovered, the band continued touring, playing at the Big Stink festival in Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
, and the Jayhawk Music Festival in Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is the sixth largest city in the U.S. State of Kansas and the county seat of Douglas County. Located in northeastern Kansas, Lawrence is the anchor city of the Lawrence, Kansas, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Douglas County...
.
1997 also saw lineup changes; bassist Victor Damiani and guitarist Greg Brown both left, prompting speculation about the band's survival; McCrea noted that "Musically, there was a really great symbiosis and I really felt that it (their departures, especially Brown's) was the most stupid thing in the world", and said that he had considered dissolving the band. Brown and Damiani formed the "new-wave influenced" Deathray
Deathray
Deathray was a band from Sacramento, California formed by former Cake members Greg Brown and Victor Damiani, and Dana Gumbiner, a musician formerly of the Sacramento indie band Little Guilt Shrine....
; their places within Cake were taken by Xan McCurdy and Gabe Nelson
Gabe Nelson
Gabe Nelson is an American rock musician from Sacramento, California, best known as the bassist for the alternative rock band Cake. Nelson replaced the original bassist, Shon Meckfessel, who left Cake to attend college, soon after the band was formed...
, whom McCrea persuaded to rejoin the band.
Prolonging the Magic (1998–2001)
With Brown and Damiani's departure, McCrea felt "freer to experiment" with the next album, 1998's Prolonging the MagicProlonging the Magic
Prolonging the Magic is the third studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 6 October 1998. It was recorded after the departure of guitarist Greg Brown and features a rotating lineup of musicians to replace him. One of them, Xan McCurdy, became his full-time replacement.The album was...
; he wrote and produced every song. As a result of this experimentation, the album was noted as "loaded with spiced-up instrumentation, including a few new ingredients like the pedal steel guitar and musical saw thrown in for extra flavour". McCrea stated that he deliberately "approached writing this record without the guitar as the central assumption of all life in the universe". Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...
described it as an "inspired collection of leftfield rock", while Thor Christensen of The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
said that it "brims with the same dry humor the Sacramento band displayed in past hits such as 'The Distance' and 'Rock and Roll Lifestyle': The leadoff track, 'Satan Is My Motor,' puts a devilish new spin on the rock 'n' roll car-song tradition, while 'When You Sleep' revolves around the question of what your fingers do while the rest of the body snoozes". Other reviewers were less complimentary, with Mike Pattenden in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
writing that "Prolonging the Magic suggests that [Cake] may well be destined to go down as one-hit wonders ... While a handful stand out – the country waltz Mexico, You Turn the Screws and Hem of Your Garment – Prolonging the Magic shows McRea and company to be little more than an above average bar-room act. Cake are surviving on songwriting crumbs". The album peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
, was listed in The Columbian
The Columbian
The Columbian is a daily newspaper for Vancouver, Washington and Clark County in Washington State in the United States. The paper was published for its first decade as a four page daily that was meant as a counterweight to the local Republican newspaper The Independent. Printer Tom Carolan began...
as the second best album of 1998, and eventually went platinum after shipping over 1 million units.
The album's first single, "Never There
Never There
"Never There" is the first single from Cake's third album Prolonging the Magic. The song spent 3 weeks at #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks.The lyrics are from the viewpoint of a lover who is frustrated that, while his beloved claims to love him back, her actions indicate that she does not really care...
", hit number 1 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks, and was followed by "Let Me Go
Let Me Go (Cake song)
"Let Me Go" is the name of a single by American alternative rock band Cake, from their 1998 album Prolonging the Magic.-Track listing:-Chart positions:...
" in 1999, which hit number 30. Following Prolonging the Magics release, the band toured the United States, playing in cities including San Diego and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. A tour of Europe was temporarily postponed in March after McCrea broke a bone in his hand moving furniture, which also led to the delay of the European release of Prolonging the Magic. Both the album release and the tour happened in mid-April, with Cake playing at the London Astoria
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...
. Later show locations in North America included Chicago, St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. A third single, "Sheep Go to Heaven
Sheep Go to Heaven
Sheep Go to Heaven is a single by American alternative rock band Cake from their 1998 album Prolonging the Magic.-Track listing:-Title:...
", was released in 2001.
Comfort Eagle (2001–2004)
For their fourth album, Comfort EagleComfort Eagle
Comfort Eagle is the fourth studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 24 July 2001. Comfort Eagle was Cake's first release on Columbia Records....
, the band signed a deal with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. Comfort Eagle was both produced and arranged by the band, and was recorded at Paradise Studios in Sacramento and Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco. Following the recording, drummer Todd Roper left the band, citing the demands extended touring would put on his time, and the commitments his two children represented. He was replaced by Pete McNeal. The album's release was preceded by the release of its first single, "Short Skirt/Long Jacket
Short Skirt/Long Jacket
"Short Skirt/Long Jacket" is the first single by American alternative rock band Cake from their 2001 album Comfort Eagle.-Music video:The associated music vox pop video is composed entirely of people listening to the song on headphones and their reactions...
", described as a parable about "the relationship between prosperity and the population boom ... There's nothing more procreational than economic prosperity". An accompanying video was directed by McCrea, and recorded using the DV
DV
DV is a format for the digital recording and playing back of digital video. The DV codec was launched in 1995 with joint efforts of leading producers of video camcorders....
system; it featured vox populi
Vox populi
Vox populi , a Latin phrase that literally means voice of the people, is a term often used in broadcasting for interviews with members of the "general public".-Vox pop, the man on the street:...
recordings of members of the public listening to the song and giving their opinion. "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" hit number 2 on the Bear Rock Top 10 in Canada and number 7 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks; the video became one of the 30 most requested tracks on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
; Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
writers later listed the video as the 5th best of 2001.
Comfort Eagle itself was released on July 24, 2001, to good reviews; Michael D. Clark of The Houston Chronicle described it as "Cake at its best", while a reviewer for the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
stated that the album's songs were "among the best of the band's career", praising McCrea for widening his vocal repertoire. James Montgomery, writing for UWIRE, noted a stylistic change, saying that "While the core sound of the band – honky tonk guitars, mariacchi horns and salsa rhythms – remain intact, they have been stripped down to the core, replaced instead with ill Casio beats, rubbery funk and Stax-style horn bleats". The album sold 22,000 copies in its first week, the highest sales in the band's history, and eventually went gold. With the exception of a slot at the Atlanta On The Bricks Festival, playing for 90,000 people, the band chose to start the tour with small rather than large shows, such as in the Sacramento area, where they played for around 100 people. They launched their first full tour for the album in September, playing in the United States, Canada and across Europe.
A second single, "Love You Madly", was released in 2002, with an accompanying video again produced by McCrea. The video featured DiFiore and McNeal competing in a cooking competition, judged by Rick James
Rick James
James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. , better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. James was a popular performer in the late 1970s and 1980s, scoring four number-one hits on the U.S. R&B charts performing in the genres of funk and R&B...
, Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Diller is an American actress and comedian. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired, eccentrically dressed housewife who makes jokes about a husband named "Fang" while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder...
and Jeff Smith
Jeff Smith (TV personality)
Jeffrey L. Smith was the author of a dozen best-selling cookbooks and the host of The Frugal Gourmet, a popular American cooking show which began in Tacoma, Washington around 1973 and aired on PBS from 1983 to 1997 , and numbered 261 episodes.-Early life:Jeff Smith was born on January 22, 1939...
, and was noted by Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
as "continuing the fresh, witty, and downright fun style seen in the "Short Skirt" video". Cake had planned a second tour of Europe, followed by a series of shows around the United States, but in view of the September 11 attacks chose not to travel overseas. Instead, the band streamed
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
a performance internationally from the Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
headquarters in California, playing emailed requests. The United States tour went ahead as planned, with Cake playing concerts in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas. This was followed by the Unlimited Sunshine Tour
Unlimited Sunshine Tour
The Unlimited Sunshine Tour is an American traveling music festival headlined by alternative rock band Cake, and featuring an eclectic mix of bands from multiple musical genres....
, a traveling festival headlined and planned by the band and featuring Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse
Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
, De La Soul
De La Soul
De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
and The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...
. A second Unlimited Sunshine Tour was undertaken in 2003, featuring Cake, Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E...
and The Hackensaw Boys
The Hackensaw Boys
The Hackensaw Boys are an Americana band from Charlottesville, Virginia inspired by punk, bluegrass, and old-time music. They formed as a quartet consisting of Tom Peloso, David Sickmen, Rob Bullington, and Robbie St. Ours in the fall of 1999...
.
Pressure Chief (2004–2011)
Cake's fifth album, Pressure ChiefPressure Chief
Pressure Chief is the fifth studio album by American band Cake. It was released on October 5, 2004, pushed back from its original August release date. It was produced by the band and recorded in a converted house in Sacramento. It reached #17 on the Billboard 200 but fell to #55 the following week....
, was recorded in June 2004 in a converted house in Sacramento; the album was again released on Columbia Records. Before its official release date on October 5, the band played at the Austin City Limits Music Festival
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual three-day American music festival that takes place in Austin, Texas at the city's central public park, Zilker Park...
and KBCO
KBCO
KBCO is a AAA radio station licensed to Boulder, Colorado, United States, that serves the Denver-Boulder area. The station's format, dubbed "World Class Rock," is an eclectic variety of pop, rock, blues, reggae and folk, from the late-1960s to the present.The Clear Channel Communications outlet...
's World Class Rockfest. The album was also preceded by its first single, "No Phone
No Phone
"No Phone" is the name of the lead-off single from the alternative rock band Cake's fifth studio album, Pressure Chief. "No Phone" reached number 13 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart.-Track listing:-Chart positions:...
", which hit number 13 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart; the song covered the ubiquitous and privacy-invading use of cell phones, and was described by Jeremy Mahadevan of the New Straits Times
New Straits Times
The New Straits Times is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print , having been founded as The Straits Times in 1845, and was reestablished as the "New Straits Times" in 1965. The paper served as Malaysia's only broadsheet format English...
as "a traditionally minimalist Cake anthem, with a killer melody and, unique to this album, fairly extensive use of synths". A second single, "Wheels", was also released but failed to chart. Pressure Chief itself hit number 17 on the Billboard top 200, spending 7 weeks in the charts, and received mixed reviews from critics. Although it was acknowledged as a continuation of their old work, albeit with an increased use of synthesisers, Sam Spies of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond the capital of Virginia, United States, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state...
noted that "the experiments in style that made Cake fun to listen to have all but disappeared from 'Pressure Chief' ... What's left is mostly uninspired, so-called alternative rock", and Graeme Hammond of the Sunday Herald Sun wrote that "the melodies are listless, the album bereft of anything with the verve of Short Skirt/Long Jacket or Comfort Eagle".
Other critics were more generous; Doug Elfman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is published in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and one of two daily newspapers in Las Vegas . It is the flagship publication of Stephens Media LLC...
called it "another great and bizarre, twangy album of alternative-singer-songwriting stories about cars and horrible relationships", while a reviewer in the New Straits Times
New Straits Times
The New Straits Times is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print , having been founded as The Straits Times in 1845, and was reestablished as the "New Straits Times" in 1965. The paper served as Malaysia's only broadsheet format English...
noted its "smart, subtly dissident, and always catchy pop". Following Pressure Chiefs release, the band toured North America, playing in cities including Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. A second tour, in 2005, saw the band headline the 20-city Virgin College Mega Tour, playing alongside Gomez
Gomez (band)
Gomez are an English indie rock band from Southport, comprising Ian Ball , Paul "Blackie" Blackburn , Tom Gray , Ben Ottewell and Olly Peacock . The band is distinguished for having three singers and four songwriters, employing traditional and electronic instruments...
; while the Tour was in California, the band announced that it had been dropped from Columbia Records. This was followed by a tour of Europe, as well as concerts in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, along with a 2006 repeat of the Unlimited Sunshine Tour, featuring Cake, Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin . Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.-History:...
and Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring.Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music...
.
Cake later formed their own label, Upbeat Records
Upbeat Records
Upbeat Records is an independent record label that releases the work of Cake.-History:Originally, Columbia Records requested that Cake release a greatest hits compilation, but the band promptly refused. During the legal fall-out, Cake formed its own record label and released B-Sides and Rarities....
, which allowed them to release the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
B-Sides and Rarities
B-Sides and Rarities (Cake album)
B-Sides and Rarities is the first rarities compilation album by Cake, an alternative rock band from Sacramento, California...
on August 14, 2007. This was followed by a series of concerts, including at the IndigO2 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and a performance in Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
. Reviews of B-Sides and Rarities were generally good; Devin Grant of The Post and Courier
The Post and Courier
Charleston's The Post and Courier is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the South and the eighth oldest newspaper still in publication in the United States. It is published in Charleston, South Carolina. It traces its ancestry to three newspapers, the Charleston Courier, founded in 1803, the...
wrote that "For an album full of odds and ends, this Cake release is every bit as good, and every bit as fun, as the band's previous studio releases", while Catherine P. Lewis of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
noted that, although several live tracks reduced the album's strength, "there are still enough charming nuggets to make this album less disposable than the typical rarities compilation".
Showroom of Compassion (2011–present) After six years without a new studio album, Cake recorded Showroom of Compassion
Showroom of Compassion
Showroom of Compassion has so far been generally well received by music critics. Metacritic, a review aggregator website, gave the album an average score of 73% from fourteen reviews, which indicates "generally favourable reviews". Many critics complimented the band for sticking to their unique style...
in 2010 and released it on January 11, 2011. Rather than having it professionally recorded, the band built their own solar-powered studio in Sacramento over five years and chose to produce the album themselves there. The album was preceded by its first single, "Sick of You
Sick of You (Cake song)
Sick of You is the name of the lead-off single from the alternative rock band Cake's sixth studio album, Showroom of Compassion. The song is Cake's fourth Top 10 hit on the Alternative Songs chart, hitting number 4...
", which was released in September 2010, hitting number 4 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. The album itself opened at number 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums, selling 44,000 copies; this marked not only the first time a Cake album had hit the number 1 spot in an opening week, but also the lowest sales numbers for an album at the top of that chart.
The album received fairly good reviews; Scott Bergen of The Record
The Record (Bergen County)
The Record is a newspaper in northern New Jersey. It has the second largest circulation of New Jersey's daily newspapers, behind The Star-Ledger. Owned by the Borg family since 1930, it is the flagship publication of the North Jersey Media Group. Stephen Borg is the publisher of The Record...
described it as "one of their best albums", while Jim Farber of the Daily News wrote that "Fifteen years after they batted out their first left-field hit with 'The Distance,' the band's sound and words still have bite". George Lang of The Oklahoman
The Oklahoman
The Oklahoman is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma and is the only daily newspaper that covers the entire Oklahoma City area.-Ownership:...
, however, wrote that it was "frustratingly lacking in many more songs worthy of the band's late-'90s boom period".
To promote the album, Cake performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
before releasing Showroom of Compassions second single, "Long Time". This was followed by a spring tour of both Europe and North America, concluding with a show in Toronto on May 21.
Influences and musical style
Cake incorporates a wide range of genres into its music, including country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, Mariachi
Mariachi
Mariachi is a genre of music that originated in the State of Jalisco, in Mexico. It is an integration of stringed instruments highly influenced by the cultural impacts of the historical development of Western Mexico. Throughout the history of mariachi, musicians have experimented with brass, wind,...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, Iranian folk music
Music of Iran
The music of Iran has thousands of years of history, as seen in the archeological documents of Elam, one of the earliest world cultures,which was located in southwestern Iran...
and hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. McCrea himself cites Hank Williams, Tom Zé
Tom Zé
Tom Zé is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and composer who was influential in the Tropicália movement of 1960s Brazil. After the peak of the Tropicália period, Zé went into relative obscurity: it was only in the 1990s, when the musician and label head David Byrne discovered an album recorded...
, the Golden Gate Quartet and Sly and the Family Stone as particular influences. The band is most often noted for three things: the prominence of DiFiore's trumpet lines, McCrea's ironic, sarcastic lyrics, and his "droll, deadpan ... monotone" vocals. DiFiore's trumpet work originated with McCrea's desire for a second melodic instrument to go with a song he had written; "A lead guitar playing those lines would have been really hokey. I like it when it's a contrapuntal thing, where the guitar is doing one melody, the vocal is doing another melody, and the trumpet plays this third melody. If the music can be transparent enough, you can hear all three at the same time".
Discography
Studio albums- Motorcade of GenerosityMotorcade of GenerosityMotorcade of Generosity is the first studio album by American alternative rock band Cake. It was released on 7 February 1994 on Capricorn Records.-Reissue:...
(1994) - Fashion NuggetFashion NuggetFashion Nugget is the second studio album by Cake, an alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. It was released in 1996, and contains 14 songs. "The Distance" became one of the band's biggest hits...
(1996) - Prolonging the MagicProlonging the MagicProlonging the Magic is the third studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 6 October 1998. It was recorded after the departure of guitarist Greg Brown and features a rotating lineup of musicians to replace him. One of them, Xan McCurdy, became his full-time replacement.The album was...
(1998) - Comfort EagleComfort EagleComfort Eagle is the fourth studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 24 July 2001. Comfort Eagle was Cake's first release on Columbia Records....
(2001) - Pressure ChiefPressure ChiefPressure Chief is the fifth studio album by American band Cake. It was released on October 5, 2004, pushed back from its original August release date. It was produced by the band and recorded in a converted house in Sacramento. It reached #17 on the Billboard 200 but fell to #55 the following week....
(2004) - B-Sides and RaritiesB-Sides and RaritiesB-Sides and Rarities may refer to:*B Sides and Rarities , by Andy Williams*B-Sides & Rarities *B-Sides & Rarities *B-Sides & Rarities...
(2007) - Showroom of CompassionShowroom of CompassionShowroom of Compassion has so far been generally well received by music critics. Metacritic, a review aggregator website, gave the album an average score of 73% from fourteen reviews, which indicates "generally favourable reviews". Many critics complimented the band for sticking to their unique style...
(2011)
Awards
Cake have been nominated for five awards: four California Music AwardsBAM (magazine)
BAM , was a free bi-weekly music magazine founded and published by Dennis Erokan in the San Francisco Bay Area starting in January 1976 and continuing on for 23 years until 1999...
and one MTV Video Music Award.
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| align="center" rowspan="4"| 2001 || Comfort Eagle || California Music Awards Outstanding Album ||
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| "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" || California Music Awards Outstanding Single ||
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| Comfort Eagle || California Music Awards Outstanding Modern Rock/Alternative Album ||
|-
| Cake || California Music Awards Outstanding Group ||
|-
| align="center"| 2002 || Short Skirt/Long Jacket || MTV VMA Breakthrough Video ||
Band members
- Current members
- John McCrea (1991–present)
- Vince DiFioreVince DiFioreVince DiFiore has been a member of the band Cake since 1991, and plays trumpet, keyboard, and auxiliary percussion. Born to parents Vincent Robert DiFiore Sr...
(1991–present) - Xan McCurdy (1997–present)
- Gabe NelsonGabe NelsonGabe Nelson is an American rock musician from Sacramento, California, best known as the bassist for the alternative rock band Cake. Nelson replaced the original bassist, Shon Meckfessel, who left Cake to attend college, soon after the band was formed...
(1991, 1997–present) - Paulo BaldiPaulo BaldiPaulo Baldi is an American rock drummer and percussionist from the San Francisco Bay Area. He is currently a member of Cake, Les Claypool's Fancy Band, Deadweight, The Faraway Brothers, and the Eric McFadden Experience....
(2004–present)
Former members
- Greg Brown (1991–1997)
- Victor DamianiVictor DamianiVictor Damiani is a former bassist of the alternative rock band Cake. He played on Cake's first two albums, Motorcade of Generosity and Fashion Nugget...
(1994–1997) - Shon Meckfessel (1994)
- Pete McNeal (2001–2004)
- Todd Roper (1994–2001)
- Frank FrenchFrank FrenchFrank French is an American rock drummer from Sacramento, California. He is a former member of a number of bands like True West, TWR, the Inversions, and Cake. Notably, he was the original drummer for the latter band, departing from the band after the release of their debut album, Motorcade of...
(1991–1994)
Timeline