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Cake is an American alternative rock band from Sacramento, California. Noted for their idiosyncratic approach to music, Cake became popular in the late 1990s with their album Fashion Nugget, which spawned several singles, with "The Distance" being the highest-charting single. Cake's musical style is characterized by lead singer John McCrea's half-sung, half-spoken vocals and lyrical wordplay. The band has switched out several members in the years since its first album, Motorcade of Generosity, in 1994. Their sixth full-length album, Showroom of Compassion, was released on January 11, 2011, and debuted at the number 1 position on the Billboard 200; a first for the band.

History

Cake was founded in 1991 and composed of vocalist/songwriter John McCrea, guitarist Greg Brown, trumpeter Vince DiFiore, bassist Shon Meckfessel and drummer Frank French. Shon Meckfessel soon left and was replaced by Gabe Nelson. In 1993, the band released its debut single, "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle". Although self-released, the single managed to hit number 31 on the US Modern Rock Tracks. After the moderate radio success of their first single, Cake released their debut album titled Motorcade of Generosity. Eventually, Cake signed a deal with Capricorn Records, who in turn released the album nationally on February 7, 1994. Some time after this deal Gabe Nelson and Frank French left the band.

On September 17, 1996, Cake released their second album, Fashion Nugget. The album produced the single "The Distance", which "dominated alternative radio that fall". The next single released from Fashion Nugget was a cover of Perren and Fekaris's "I Will Survive".

Cake released their third studio album, Prolonging the Magic, on October 6, 1998. This album contained the single "Never There" which reached number 1 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks.

On July 24, 2001, Cake released their fourth full-length album titled Comfort Eagle. This was Cake's first release under Columbia records. The lead single "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" was a major hit on alternative radio stations, climbing to number 7 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks, and is now the theme song to the TV series Chuck. It was also used as the background music for an Apple iPod Nano commercial launched in September 2010.

Cake's fifth album, Pressure Chief, was released on October 5, 2004. It contained the singles "No Phone" and a cover of the Bread song "The Guitar Man".

Cake released a compilation, B-Sides and Rarities, on October 2, 2007. It features covers of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs", Barry White's "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up," Singleton, Snyder & Kaempfert's "Strangers in the Night" and Piero Umiliani's "Mahna Mahna", as well as live versions of Cake songs "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" and "It's Coming Down". Rarities is the band's first album on its own label, Upbeat Records.

In 2008 the band removed their studio (Upbeat Studio) from dependence on Sacramento, California's power grid by installing a system of solar panels. The band subsequently announced that their upcoming studio album will be "recorded using 100% solar energy."

A new studio album titled Showroom of Compassion was released on January 11, 2011, debuting at #1 on the Billboard Album Chart with 44,000 copies sold. John McCrea describes the album's sound as "very different" from previous Cake records, also indicating that he will be playing piano much more than usual. The album was released on Upbeat Records. Cake had previously released a new song from the album in September 2010, called "Sick Of You". To promote the album, members of the band donated their used clothing, which was to create a book featuring the lyrics of the single 'Bound Away'. The books were made from a variety of recycled and home made materials by the San Francisco Center for the Book and illustrated in letterpress by Bay Area artist Rigel Stuhmiller.

Member changes

Damiani left the band in 1997, replaced by Gabe Nelson. Greg Brown left in 1998, replaced by Xan McCurdy. Brown and Damiani continued to work together when they formed the band Deathray. Todd Roper left the band to focus on parenthood after recording Comfort Eagle, and subsequently also joined Deathray, before that group disbanded in 2007. Drummer Paulo Baldi joined Cake in 2003 during the second "Unlimited Sunshine Tour". (See Band lineup for more)

Musical style

Although Cake's music is often classified as alternative rock or indie rock, it combines multiple musical genres, such as ska, funk, rockabilly, pop, jazz, rap, and country. Cake's music features droll, often esoteric lyrics rife with word play and syncopation, catchy distorted guitar riffs, prominent use of a Moog, and a solo trumpet (played by Vince DiFiore).

Touring

Cake headlined the Unlimited Sunshine Tour festival in mid-2002 among an eclectic ensemble of bands including Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Latin techno fusion band Kinky and bluegrass group The Hackensaw Boys. Cake brought back the tour in 2003 with Cheap Trick, country singer Charlie Louvin, garage rockers The Detroit Cobras and a return performance from The Hackensaw Boys. The tour returned in 2007 with the Brazilian Girls on the East Coast dates, return of The Detroit Cobras for the West Coast dates, and Oakley Hall, Agent Ribbons and King City for all the shows. Cake headlined Artscape 2009, in Baltimore, MD.

Band lineup

• John McCrea – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, organ, piano, vibraslap (1991–present)
• Vince DiFiore - trumpet, keyboard, harmony vocals, percussion (1991–present)
• Xan McCurdy – lead guitar (1998–present)
• Gabe Nelson – bass guitar (1991–1993, 1997–present)
• Paulo Baldi – drums, percussion (2003–present)

Former members:

• Greg Brown – lead guitar (1991–1998)
• Victor Damiani – bass guitar (1993–1997)
• Shon Meckfessel – bass guitar (1991)
• Frank French – drums, percussion (1991–1994)
• Michael Thorn - Trumpet (1994–1995) - Subbed for Vince DiFiore during year he got married.
• Todd Roper - drums, percussion (1994–2002)
• Pete McNeal - drums, percussion (2002–2003)
• Andrew Griffin – drums (substituted for Paulo Baldi due to schedule conflicts on 2007 for European tour)

Discography

Studio albums

• Motorcade of Generosity (1994)
• Fashion Nugget (1996)
• Prolonging the Magic (1998)
• Comfort Eagle (2001)
• Pressure Chief (2004)
• Showroom of Compassion (2011)

Compilation albums

• B-Sides and Rarities (2007)

References

1. "Billboard"
2. "Cake Biography". Retrieved August 24, 2007.
3. "Prolonging the Magic Billboard Singles tracking". Retrieved January 18, 2011.
4. "CAKE's Solar page". Retrieved September 9, 2008.
5. It was, however, a pyhrric achievement as it was "the lowest high sales mark in Billboard history" according to "The Sac Rag", a Sacremento news blog: "CAKE chart topper is death of music industry?", january 19, 2011.
6. Jenny Feniak, "CAKE baked from various genres", Sun Media via Canoe.com
7. Cake. MySpace. Retrieved March 10, 2008.
8. Hugh Hart, "Shirt Scraps, Beeswax Sweeten Cake’s Handmade Lyric Book." Retrieved February 15, 2011.

External links

• Official website
• Cake at AllMusic
• Cake at IMDb
• Template:Myspace

• Use mdy dates from August 2010
• Musical groups established in 1991
• 1990s music groups
• 2000s music groups
• American indie rock groups
• Alternative rock groups from California