Showroom of Compassion

This week, the rock band Cake released a new album, Showroom of Compassion. It's their first release in a little over six years.

I've found that Cake is a fairly polarizing band. I know a few people that absolutely hate them, and a few that absolutely love them. I myself probably migrated from closer to the first category (when hearing "Never There" overplayed on the radio) to the second (when I heard more of the "deeper cuts" on their albums). They definitely have a distinctive style that invites strong opinions like that.

That style is very much in force on Showcase of Compassion. They haven't altered their formula during their absence. The distinct vocal style is still there, along with the trumpet, the cowbell, and the vibro-slap. There are a couple of new touches, including actual piano on a track or two (rather than synthesizers) -- but the core formula is no different.

Though I'd also say that makes for an album that doesn't feel worth a six-year wait. It's not that I was waiting on pins and needles -- or for that matter, even wondering why Cake hadn't released an album. But when you realize how long it's been, you somehow expect more.

I don't know how much song order on an album even matters in this age of iPod shuffling and singles purchases, but for what it's worth, I think some of my enthusiasm for the new album was dulled right out of the gate by the opening track, "Federal Funding." It's a fine song, but very low-key. It's not a punchy "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" kind of track, but a more quiet "Sheep Go to Heaven"-ish sort of track. My reaction was more "this is okay" than what I was looking for: "I missed this."

Each song from there continues to be good, but the album doesn't seem to want to serve up a truly catchy number to kick things into high gear. For a moment, I thought "Mustache Man (Wasted)" would be that track, until the vocals kicked in. They didn't seem to match the instrumentals. (Speaking of instrumentals, the album has a no-vocals track, "Teenage Pregnancy." Not as catchy as their past effort in this style, "Arco Arena," but again, not bad.)

The song I think I was looking for turned out to be the 7th track on the album: "Sick of You." I didn't know it when I first listened to it, but this is their lead-off single, the one getting radio play off the new album. I'd say it's definitely the best track on the album, and really should have been first in the track listing to kick things off right.

But just in case I seem too down on the album, let me sum up by saying that it's actually a solid collection of songs. There may only be one real "5-star" song in the bunch, but it is an album full of "4-star" songs. Overall, I'd rate it a B. If you're a Cake fan, you'll probably want to pick it up.