CAKE, the band’s music is just as delicious as their name suggests. Released in 1996, Fashion Nugget holds some of the band’s most popular songs such as “The Distance”, “Frank Sinatra”, and a wonderful cover of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.” The music of CAKE is often described as being in the genre of 90s geek rock. Groovy, and incredibly sarcastic. Rather than singing, our lead vocalist John McCrea prefers to monologue to us through catchy, jazzy composition. Creating a quite entrancing experience.
“The Distance” is my favorite song off of this album. And yes, it’s their most popular song, and while I would argue that an artist’s most popular song is not necessarily any good, – see Glass Animals. It is more than tragic that “Pools,” in all of its beautiful and interesting compositions, is beaten by a lazy pop song AND its remix – in this case it’s hard to deny the driving bass and the trumpet that seemingly dances with the rhythm of the song. And in standard 90s fashion, there is some dirty guitar tone in the chorus of the song. What a journey. Not to mention the lyrics, describing a man chasing something that he will never find, all at the cost of the people around him. A deep selfishness motivated by an invisible goal, packaged in the form of horse racing.
Now, while I’m quick to jump on the cover hate train, CAKE’s cover of “I Will Survive” is totally fantastic. Not only is it cool to see the song in a different style, it is incredibly catchy and well done. The addition of some very interesting and groovy bass playing (thank you Sean McFessel), as well as an epic guitar solo in the middle of the song, makes it unique. If someone had told me that this was an original, I would have believed them. It is not out of place on the album and fits the theme of love and heartbreak quite well.
A banger as always. CAKE is awesome, Fashion Nugget is awesome. Just listen to it, get lost in the groove and if you’re feeling peckish, notice the themes of love throughout the record. (Almost enough to become a concept album.) But what do I know, I’m just a writer for a school newspaper, desperately trying to get people to listen to music outside of their TikTok for you page. I rate this album 8.5/10.
