If I were ever in a bull fight, I'd like the music of Cake to be playing. The aesthetics seem to complement each other - the monotone machismo, regal trumpet, cranked guitar and sly bass lines animate images of sweaty mustaches, greased leather and the absurd pageantry of man versus animal challenges. Combine these elements with the slanted view and offbeat lyricism of John McCrea delivered in phrasing delayed like any good punch line, and now you're messing with the horns.
On Showroom of Compassion, Cake's sixth studio album and first since 2004, the matadors originating from Sacramento seemed well primed with seven years of material to provide us with a biting commentary on any number of subjects. What happens in the ring, however, is a bit less flamboyant.
The bass centric grooves and building energy of "Long Time" feel like it would have made a nice thematic opener, but instead "Federal Funding" kicks things off with a revving guitar lick as sleuth bloops and horn blows provide the undertow over which lead singer McCrea sings "Strategize this presentation / Make them see that you're the man".
The too obvious rhymes and vague direction of "Got To Move" and "What's Now is Now" get a little stale before a burst of fresh air hits with standout track "Mustache Man (Wasted)". McCrea's uptempo lyrics, some well placed hand claps, and fast action horns breathe new life into the midpoint of the album. The meaty lick of Xan McCurdy and the rhythm of bassist Gabe Nelson and drummer Paulo Baldi driving above the crowd chatter as the song ends, gives you the feeling of drunkenly stumbling though a keg lubricated high school party, spilling warm beer on the basement carpet and interrupting your locker neighbors ever important conversation about her hardcore crush.
The provacatively titled instrumental "Teenage Pregnancy" draws a nice tension between the drawn out malaise and the low end weighted guitar parts. "Sick of You", the first single off the album, picks the tempo back up with McCurdy's guitar lines traveling under McCrea's vocals before an olé worthy riff flexes persuasively to end the phrase. Country textures accent the more acoustic, weary traveler tale of "Bound Away", highlighting the band's harmonic strengths and reflective life-passing-by-through-the-window observations.
The lovers lament of "The Winter" and ironic classicism in "Italian Guy" tread similar territory as "Got To Move" and "What's Now is Now" and do more to subtract here than add.
Overall, all of the elements that make Cake a band without equals are all present on Showroom of Compassion, but the lyrical dagger McCrea usually wields with such deft acuity comes across as blunted and the portions of musical sustenance don't quite make a full meal. The filling fare of Cake's career is a tall plate to saddle up to, and while its great to eat Cake again, there's just not enough here to satifsy the hungry bulls.
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