Cake - Motorcade of Generosity

You need to straighten your posture and suck in your gut.
You need to pull back your shoulders and tighten your butt.
Yeah, come Comanche, Comanche, Comanche, commode.
If you want to have cities, you've got to build roads.

So begin the quirky lyrics of Cake's "Comanche" on their first CD, Motorcade of Generosity, released in 1995. Cake is one of the most unique bands of the past decade. Their first major hit I remember was "The Distance" off Fashion Nugget, their sophomore release. Soon after this song I heard a local Stillwater radio station (KSPI) playing samples of every cut off the album. I instantly became a fan of their odd style. I love every one of their albums. However, if you've never heard the band, or only have heard their hits, I recommend starting at the beginning.

Motorcade of Generosity begins with "Comanche," and is a good introduction to what Cake is all about. The lyrics are almost nonsensical but still humorous. John McCrea opens the song singing the verse only accompanied by a simple drumstick tap as eventually the other instruments join in. Cake is known for its wide variety of percussion instruments, as well as their use of the trumpet. The trumpet reminds me of Western Swing. In fact, Cake has often performed in Tulsa's Cain's Ballroom, which was once the home of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.

The next track is "Ruby Sees All" which is the first good example of Cake's guitar style. The song also features the syncopated rhythms the band is known for. This makes Cake a difficult band to sing along with sometimes, trying to anticipate the next word. It makes McCrea's singing style almost William Shatner-esque.

The trumpet work on "Up So Close" makes this one of my favorite songs by the band on any of their five CDs. Also, the lyrics are fun to analyze. Is he singing about examining his love to the point that he doesn't really see her?

The darkest song Cake ever recorded by far is "Pentagram." In a cheery bouncy beat, McCrea singings about casting incantations and varies spells on a pentagram drawn on the floor. The subject of the song is the listener, and probably the most disturbing line ever is "Your feet are dry with the ashes from dead babies." I don't think any other Cake song comes close to that level of macabre.

My favorite Cake song of all time appears on this album, and that song is "Jolene." I like how hard the guitars rock in it, and at first it seems just like any other of their songs. However, this song runs over five minutes in length, which is longer than almost all other Cake songs. Near the end of the song McCrea really gets into it, screaming "Get down! Please get down!" I chuckle at his "Please" almost every time. The guitars also really get going.

The best love song Cake ever recorded is "Haze of Love." The singer obviously has insomnia has he sings about being unable to sleep, but is slowly getting over his lost love. The acoustic guitar is a simple nice touch. After McCrea sings about realizing his love isn't returned, but he's finally cutting through "this haze of love," the electric guitar plays a great solo. This is a song I can relate to.

A grand piano appropriately opens "You Part The Waters." This might be the first song to feature prominently an instrument Cake is very well known for: the vibraslap. I just love that sound. But really what makes this song for me are these funny lyrics:

You got your grand piano
You don't even play piano
I'm the one who plays piano
You don't even play piano
But you part the waters

"Is This Love" has McCrea snarling the lyrics out with a hate only reserved for someone you love. The trumpets are more earnest than ever. The guitars are also very well done in this one. "Jesus Wrote a Blank Check" is quite the complimentary to follow this up with, as McCrea sounds much happier in it. It has a more country feel to it, but just when you think you got a feel for the song, McCrea comes up with this bridge about his desire to live.

Although "The Distance" was the first hit song I remember hearing by Cake, "Rock and Roll Lifestyle" was also a minor college radio hit. It was most famously used on MTV's Daria. This song has jamming electric guitars, and heavy use of the vibraslap. The lyrics point out the costliness of being a fan of Rock and Roll music, as well as the cost of being the rock star who bashes his guitar every show. "How long will the workers keep building him new ones? As long as the soda cans are red, white and blue ones." I really agree with McCrea has he says "Excess ain't rebellion."

"I Bombed Korea" is a fun exercise in modulation. Each verse is a different key than the last one, and the lyrics are interesting as well. "Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die." So says Lord Tennyson, and so goes the theme of this song.
Still relevant today I think...

Mr. Mastodon's Farm is more like a spoken poem over guitars and percussion. McCrea speaks of birds that plummet past his window, and his urge to make sure they don't hit the ground by rising to look out the window. If he doesn't, he shall fail as well.

Motorcade closes out with the short and simple "Ain't No Good." The percussion, acoustic and electric guitars, trumpets and McCrea's syncopated voice come together as the album ends in the same style it began, pure musical fun.

For further reading:
Cake's official web site
All Music Guide's Cake entry
Wikipedia's Cake entry

Gomez - How We Operate

I was excited. Cake was coming to Tulsa. They are one of my favorite bands still active. I bought tickets for my wife and I, paying no attention at all to who was opening. They were two bands, Robbers on High Street, and Gomez. I had never heard of either, so when the concert started I had no idea what to expect. Robbers on High Street were forgettable, at least to me. Gomez, however, impressed me. I quickly became a fan, liking such fun songs as "Get Myself Arrested," "Get Miles," "Love is Better than a Warm Trombone," "Whippin' Piccadilly," and "Ping One Down." They even played a cover of Nick Drake's "Black Eyed Dog."

Gomez has a sound all of their own, and I noticed each of their albums have shown change and development from the previous one. How We Operate is no different. It opens with "Notice," which has soft acoustic guitars, strings, and just the right percussion accompaniment. It still sounds like Gomez, and I like it from the beginning. The song picks up after the first verse, and it shows a more poppy Gomez.

For further reading:
Gomez's homepage
All Music Guide's Gomez entry
Wikipedia's Gomez entry

"See The World" is probably my favorite on the album for its chorus. It's really uplifting, and has a good happy beat. It's another good pop song. The acoustic guitar work is brilliant, and the drums are well done as well.

For those who like the darker, experimental sound of Gomez it can be found in "How We Operate." The song starts with what sounds like banjo and pizzicato strings. This sounds more like something you'd find on their earlier albums. The band eventually joins in, and it's a good sound.

I first heard "Hamoa Beach" on XM radio, and it got me excited to find out there's new Gomez coming out. This song is another cheery song, and I really like the percussion on it. It's got a nice shuffling sound. The guitars have a nice twang to them too.

Lyric wise, "Girlshapedlovedrug" is a fun song. I also like "Woman! Man!" Neither is "Get Myself Arrested," but they're still both enjoyable pop love songs.

"All Too Much" has a simple guitar lick, and it leaves you unprepared for the heavy guitars and drums that join in at the pre-chorus, before they back off for verse again. But this time the verse is fuller, and when the chorus comes this time, it's a good rocking one. The composition of this song is well done.

It's a fun album. Some may say Gomez are taking that trend to radio-friendly pop songs, but I think these are GOOD pop songs. I hear enough of the older Gomez sound in it too.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood

To give you a good idea what sort of person I am, I'm kicking off this blog with, of all people, "Weird Al" Yankovic. I've been a fan of "Weird Al" since the early 80's, when I first heard "Eat It." Here it is, over 20 years later, and I'm still listening. I can't remember the last "Weird Al" album I didn't run out and get a copy soon after release. Some may think the 46-year-old Al has lost his touch, but I disagree. Sure Poodle Hat had its weak spots, but "Why Does This Always Happen to Me," Al's duet with Ben Folds, was as good as any original Al song from the '80s or '90s.

"Weird Al" kicks off Straight Outta Lynwood appropriately with a parody of Chamillionaire's "Ridin." This is a genre I'm not too familiar with, but from what I've heard of the original song, musically Al nails it as usual. The lyrics follow Al's long running theme of making fun of his own geekiness. However, it's the next track, "Pancreas," that wins me over to the album. In my opinion Al is at his best when writing his original songs, even though they're usually in the style of a certain group or genre instead of a song itself. "Pancreas" shows Al's musical talents as he takes on Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. The song really reflects on the songs that appeared on Smile, Brian Wilson's long awaited masterpiece.

"Canadian Idiot" falls flat to me. I didn't really like the song he parodies by Green Day, and the jokes don't really stand out. "I'll Sue Ya" has some funny lines, and does a good job of capturing Rage Against the Machine's sound, even though the band has been broken up for some time.

No "Weird Al" album would be complete without his take on today's current hits in a polka medley. This track made me feel old because I only recognized about two-thirds of the songs he used. But considering the quality of the original songs, I don't think I'm missing much. The next few songs on the album don't really grab me. I guess I don't really get where Al is going with any of them. "Close But No Cigar" kind of reminds me of Cake, but not quite.

My favorite song on the album is "Trapped in the Drive-Thru," a parody of R. Kelly's epic "Trapped in the Closet." I am not a R. Kelly fan, but I strongly urge you to go out and hear "Trapped in the Closet" (all 12 parts) if you haven't already. The original version is much funnier than Al's, just because it goes on and on, introducing more absurd characters as the story meanders all over the place. Al does a great job of capturing R Kelly's dramatic cliffhangers and dialogue. Unlike R. Kelly's version, I can at least relate to Al and his wife's dilemma of what to eat for dinner.

Finally the album closes out with "Don't Download This Song," which is mildly funny, and reminds me of those '80s charity songs like "We Are The World." The real humor in the song lies in the fact is Al made this song available free to download before Straight Outta Lynwood was released.

Overall, like all "Weird Al" Yankovic albums, Straight Outta Lynwood has its highlights and forgettable filler. But to me, the funny songs make it worth it.

For further reading:
"Weird Al"'s homepage
All Music Guide's "Weird Al" entry
Wikipedia's "Weird Al" entry