New Cake Album - Pressure Chief
Okay, so the new Cake album came out yesterday. 
Susidhe and I picked it up on the way home from work. I've had a chance to listen to it all the way through twice and have this to say.
Disappointing. While it's still Cake doing the Cake thing, it seems like they tried to go in a new direction and while sometimes it works, a lot of the time it does not. And they lyrical genius that makes Cake one of my favorite bands was seriously lacking in a lot of songs.
1. Wheels - Great opening song. Has a good driving beat, great trumpet and John McCrea does some vocals that are new for him and he does them well.
2. No Phone - Another good driving song, if not a little repeatative. The guitar is really cool.
3. Take It All Away - A pretty mellow song. Good guitar and McCrea's lyrics are good and the trumpets at the end have a great rhythm.
4. Dime - Here's where we really start to hear the new sound of Cake. They add synth loops that have their proper place, and in this song it works. Plus, it's a song about a dime. How great is that? This is my second favorite song on the album.
5. Carbon Monoxide - Okay, I get what they were going for in this song. The message is clear, but the structure of the song is a little but strange. There's 3 or 4 different sections that don't tie to together well. I imagine they were really high when they wrote and played this. Good rhythms but just too erratic.
6. Guitar Man - A beautiful song. A wonderful cover ofthe Bread original. McCrea's vocals are outstanding. There are more digital effects that are cool. My only complaint is that the chorus, which is the best part of the song, isn't repeated at the end of the song, but that's not Cake's fault.
7. Waiting - Okay, what the hell happened to the Cake lyrics that we know and love? This song starts with great lyrics, and then he decides to repeat a phrase over and over and over and over again. Musically, it's not bad, if a little slow. But I wonder if McCrea just ran out of words for this song.
8. She'll Hang The Baskets - Not too bad of a song. It's a somewhat depressing song about failed relationships and the music plauys in to the lyrics really well. Again, though, it seems like he ran out of things to say; the two verses are very short and the chorus is repeated a lot.
9. End Of The Movie - This song is weird, but it's cool. It has like three instruments, no drums and is just McCrea singing. Very folksie… if anyone knows Lava Toad it's a lot like some of their songs.
10. Palm Of Your Hands - My favorite song. Good beat. Great guitars. A Hammond organ. Great visual lyrics and well sung. And the message from the song is one that should be heeded by all of those people who think they know what they're doing.
11. Tougher Than It Is - Great guitar intro leads into a hard and dirty beat, although some of the drums sound like drum loops rather than a real drummer, which is fine, it's just not the Cake I know. And, once again, short verses with few words and a lot of repeated chorus. The trumpet is pretty freaking cool though.
Overall, I give it a B. It may seem weird being disappointed in an album given a B, but my hopes were really high for this considering how much I love Fashion Nugget and Comfort Eagle. Oh well.
Susidhe and I picked it up on the way home from work. I've had a chance to listen to it all the way through twice and have this to say.
Disappointing. While it's still Cake doing the Cake thing, it seems like they tried to go in a new direction and while sometimes it works, a lot of the time it does not. And they lyrical genius that makes Cake one of my favorite bands was seriously lacking in a lot of songs.
1. Wheels - Great opening song. Has a good driving beat, great trumpet and John McCrea does some vocals that are new for him and he does them well.
2. No Phone - Another good driving song, if not a little repeatative. The guitar is really cool.
3. Take It All Away - A pretty mellow song. Good guitar and McCrea's lyrics are good and the trumpets at the end have a great rhythm.
4. Dime - Here's where we really start to hear the new sound of Cake. They add synth loops that have their proper place, and in this song it works. Plus, it's a song about a dime. How great is that? This is my second favorite song on the album.
5. Carbon Monoxide - Okay, I get what they were going for in this song. The message is clear, but the structure of the song is a little but strange. There's 3 or 4 different sections that don't tie to together well. I imagine they were really high when they wrote and played this. Good rhythms but just too erratic.
6. Guitar Man - A beautiful song. A wonderful cover ofthe Bread original. McCrea's vocals are outstanding. There are more digital effects that are cool. My only complaint is that the chorus, which is the best part of the song, isn't repeated at the end of the song, but that's not Cake's fault.
7. Waiting - Okay, what the hell happened to the Cake lyrics that we know and love? This song starts with great lyrics, and then he decides to repeat a phrase over and over and over and over again. Musically, it's not bad, if a little slow. But I wonder if McCrea just ran out of words for this song.
8. She'll Hang The Baskets - Not too bad of a song. It's a somewhat depressing song about failed relationships and the music plauys in to the lyrics really well. Again, though, it seems like he ran out of things to say; the two verses are very short and the chorus is repeated a lot.
9. End Of The Movie - This song is weird, but it's cool. It has like three instruments, no drums and is just McCrea singing. Very folksie… if anyone knows Lava Toad it's a lot like some of their songs.
10. Palm Of Your Hands - My favorite song. Good beat. Great guitars. A Hammond organ. Great visual lyrics and well sung. And the message from the song is one that should be heeded by all of those people who think they know what they're doing.
11. Tougher Than It Is - Great guitar intro leads into a hard and dirty beat, although some of the drums sound like drum loops rather than a real drummer, which is fine, it's just not the Cake I know. And, once again, short verses with few words and a lot of repeated chorus. The trumpet is pretty freaking cool though.
Overall, I give it a B. It may seem weird being disappointed in an album given a B, but my hopes were really high for this considering how much I love Fashion Nugget and Comfort Eagle. Oh well.