Front man John McCrea, the principal songwriter for Cake, uses his talking style of singing to tell the tale of very peculiar, though typical people he sees on a daily basis. As weird and hard to swallow as his songs are, there is something refreshing, something so unbelievable about McCrea's spin on the art of lyrics and storytelling that you can't help but fall in love with his songs. Even if you fight it hard.

The man and his band, which features a trumpet player, another thing you don't see in every rock band, still know how to knock out the difficult, left of the dial pop songs that always seem to hit radio at the right time. With so much teenie bopper pop and nu metal bands clogging up the airwaves, Cake takes a stab at relieving the crap and getting something new and innovative on the air. And that is exactly what they do on Comfort Eagle, an album you'll look back on years from now and go, "Why the hell did I like that?" yet still love it then as much as you did the first time you heard it. Go figure. I'll give it an A.15

Cage: Darker Than Black

Cake: Fashion Nugget

[Issue Forty-One // October 2001]