Cake

Call Cake just a novelty band if you want to (many do, though I don't exactly see why), but they have a sound unlike any band I've heard--and that goes beyond just the often-mentioned unconventional instrumentation and into their production style, use of space, and phrasing. They're still funny sometimes, of course. They're great. In fact, don't call them a novelty band if you want to.

Information: Cake
Suggested First Purchase: Motorcade of Generosity

Motorcade of Generosity (1994) -- Cake introduces a brand new kind of music to the world with this great record, featuring "Comanche," "Mr. Mastadon Farm," "Ain't No Good," and other super excellent songs.

Fashion Nugget (1996) -- This album has an original sound and over a dozen great tunes. The theme of cars seems to tie the album together. This music is fun, but not goofy.

Prolonging the Magic (Explicit) (1998) -- This album is even better than its predecessor, this time with religion as the central theme. A passion play of an album. There's nothing actually "explicit" about this. The mixes are just different on this than they are on the "clean" version.

Prolonging the Magic (Clean) (1998) -- See above. Slightly different mix. Bizarre joke?

Comfort Eagle (2001) -- Cake does it again. I love Cake because of the similarities of the albums, from the cover art to the music. You don't have to change your style on each album -- that's not a rule -- and why would they change such a great style anyway?

Pressure Chief (2004) -- For some reason I can't quite figure out, this feels like many of these songs are a slightly weaker version of some of what they've done before. Maybe the "formula" is getting too old? At any rate, though I still appreciate much of the sameness of the band, this doesn't have the joy and freshness of Motorcade of Generosity from ten years ago, which is still probably their best album. Having said all that, this is still an excellent record. "Dime" and "Carbon Monoxide" see the band moving into almost TMBG territory with the sounds (and lyrics); while "The Guitar Man" isn't as inspired as some of their other cover songs, this one is still pretty good; and "End of the Movie" sounds different from anything Cake's done and shows that maybe they haven't used up all their tricks after all.

B-Sides and Rarities (2007)