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I review: Fashion Nugget by Cake

pabcool | 02/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fashion Nugget by Cake
Zomba/Volcano
Explicit: Yes ("Nugget" is pretty much is the only offender, but it's a pretty good one)
Best Song: Friend Is A Four-Letter Word
Worst Song: She'll Come Back To MeAh, Cake. The first thing to mention about Cake (Because you just can't talk about Cake's big break without talking about Cake themselves) is John McCrea. McCrea's voice is absolutely brilliant. The guy sings with a half-funky, half-monotone voice that at times almost sounds like he's speaking. Not only is the monotone singing approach unique and absolutely addicting, McCrea can do more than that. He can do anything, from Country yelps, ("Stickshifts And Safetybelts") to pseudo-rap. ("The Distance") As a matter of fact, it's a real shame their claim to fame is "The Distance", since while that is a spectacular song, there are plenty of joys here. "Frank Sinatra" is a wonderful little gem with a spectacularly memorable chorus:"We know of an ancient radiation
That affects dismembered constallations
A faintly gimmering radio station
While Frank Sinatra sings Stormy Weather
The flies and the spiders get along together
Cobwebs fall on an old skipping record."And the fun doesn't stop there, for it is merely the first track. We have the great and funky alt-rock perennial "The Distance" featuring McCrea's brilliant delivery, the lyrically simplistic but absolutely wonderful "Friend Is A Four-Letter Word", the oddly compelling one-two punch of "Open Book" and "Daria", the short little piece "Race Car Ya-Yas", featuring another memorable "chorus":"The land of the race car ya-yas
The land where you can't change lanes
The land where pink fuzzy dice
Hang proudly
Like testicles from rear-view mirrors"And then we get into the latter half, which isn't as good but still with plenty of gems. A lot of the songs take an almost Country approach which I don't care for myself, ("Stickshifts And Safetybelts", "She'll Come Back To Me") but there's still the genius of the witty, dry, twisted cover of "I Will Survive", the cynical "She's Coming Down", the pleasant but unusually long for Cake "Italian Leather Sofa", and "Nugget", featuring YET another memorable chorus:"Shut the f**k up
Shut the f**k up
Learn to buck up
Shut the f**k up
Learn to buck up"It all ends with the melancholy "Sad Songs And Waltzes" where McCrea sadly proclaims:"It's a good thing that I'm not a star.
You don't know how lucky you are.
Though my record may say it,
No one will play it.
Sad songs and waltzes aren't selling this year."While Cake does have a good discography, this is their real masterpiece, a witty, fresh little gem. A personal favorite of mine, Fashion Nugget is not only the quint-essential Cake album, it's a genuinely refreshing piece of alt-rock most will skimp on. My advice: Don't.Final Grade: A"

The long island iced tea of rock n roll

pabcool | 11/04/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cake is the Long Island Iced Tea of rock-n-roll, you just keep throwing in tasty ingredients one after the other and just pray you don't get a hangover. They've been called everything in the book by those trying to describe them to the uninformed, for those I say get informed buy this cd or go see them live. In simple terms though they're a country -funkin-alternative-rock-bar band, that will make the stiffest legs (like mine) move. "Fashion Nugget' is their major label debut and features the hit single "The Distance", written by phenomenal guitarist Greg Brown, is all groove the riff sounds like it could've been lifted right from Beavis's mouth. There's a couple of obvious things that set Cake apart from your average "alternative" band, most notably their preeminent trumpet player (considering their not a lame ska band) and spoken vocals that are almost non-rhythmical raps. The vocals are definitely rapped though on "Nugget" their hilarious funky hip-hop rant; They also incorporate some of the strangest damn things as instruments like on "Italian Leather Sofa" that gets its start with a chainsaw being fired up. "Italian Leather Sofa" is also the closest they've come to capturing their jammin' live sound. There's also some great country tinged ballads like "She'll Come Back To Me" and a tip of the hat to Willie Nelson with a great version of his "Sad Songs and Waltzes." The highlight though is their fantastic cover of the disco classic "I Will Survive", and instead of being sung with Gloria Gaynor's hope and enthusiasm, they give it the drunken bitterness the original lacked."