New Music from 1/11/2011 - Cake, Cage the Elephant, and Clive Tanaka

Cake Showroom of Compassion - SacTown's finest alternative rock band release their sixth full-length studio album and first since 2004.  Having grown up in Sacramento, I remember fondly going to many Cake shows in the 90's at the not-so-majestic Crest Theater downtown when I was in high school.  In fact, Cake and They Might Be Giants are the two bands I've seen the most live with about a dozen shows for each over the years.  But now it is time to put my bias aside so we can see how John McCrea and bandmates' new album stacks up.  

"Federal Funding" opens the album and reintroduces us to the Cake sound, although it has been buoyed by a heavier use of keyboards to supplement McCrea's usual half-spoken/half-sung vocal style.  "Long Time" is the second song and features a freer, funkier style with solid horn work that harkens back to their work on past albums like Motorcade of Generosity.  "Got to Move" has a slower tempo although it does feature some entrancing guitar and keyboard work.  "Mustache Man (Wasted)" features a quicker tempo and the ska-like horn work that is prominent on their past albums and is the most classically sung song I've heard from McCrea in a while.  The first single off the album, "Sick of You," has a very listener friendly vibe again with a familiar, instantly recognizable as Cake, guitar riff and horn playing. 

The band's sound hasn't really morphed in their six year hiatus but that's a good thing for fans of the band.  They do try to give us a more diverse overall sound from the quick tempo "Mustache Man (Wasted)" to the more somber, purely acoustic "Teenage Pregnancy" (minus a few primal screams at the last few seconds of the track).  For longtime fans like myself, the album is very similar to Comfort Eagle with a slightly more complex and layered sound. There is also a lot more keyboard work on this album although it doesn't alter the band's sound much.  Again, the real highlights are the unique alt rock sound the band is able to consistently create and McCrea's inimitable vocal style that can change with ease from haunting to humorous.  Not their best work but still most of the tracks are very enjoyable.

Score:  7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Mustache Man (Wasted)" [sample it below] and "Long Time"

Clive Tanaka Y Su Orquesta Jet Set Siempre 1° - Japanese-born dream pop musician Clive Tanaka releases his first album in the States available for download from Amazon and other online retailers.  Originally released on cassette, the album version adds an electronic spin to the airy pop songs.  According to an online biography, Tanaka began his interest in music when his older sister left a big box of cassettes of 70's and 80's music outside his bedroom door.  Let's see if we should thank or curse his sister out for her benevolence towards her brother.

There are eight tracks total and the first four songs are labeled "For Dance" while the last four songs are labeled "For Romance," as if it were the A and B-sides of a cassette (which it originally was).  The songs "For Dance" have a heavier trance or house feel to it while the songs "For Romance" have a downtempo sound, although I would still quantify them as electronica songs.   "All Night, All Right" opens the album with a simple house beat and heavily synthesized vocals that build to form an upbeat pop song that did run for a bit too long.  "I Want You (So Bad)" has a trance beat initially but is highlighted by a more jungle rhythm and a rocking guitar solo in the middle as the song progresses.  "Skinjob" leads off the "For Romance" songs and begins with a latin sound and sultry work on a real bass before the samples and synthesizers come into play.  The last song, "Lonely for the High Scrapers," features an extremely slow tempo and airy, synthesized vocals to achieve an out-of-this-world feel for the song. 

Jet Set Siempre 1° ends up being a really good electro/dream pop release from Clive Tanaka.  Tanaka doesn't give us anything outstandingly thought provoking on the album but there is a lot of aural pleasure to be derived from the disc.  All of the "For Dance" songs feature some type of vocal work or samples while all the "For Romance" songs, except the last one, are instrumental.  I really enjoyed the first half of the album for the gratifying beats and fun electropop sound Tanaka is able to create.  I was less in love with the second half of the album because it was a bit too downtempo after listening to the first half but that doesn't ruin the overall pleasure to be derived from listening to this release as a whole. 

Score:  9/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "I Want You (So Bad)" and "Neu Chicago" [sample it below]

 Cage the Elephant Thank You, Happy Birthday - The five person rock band from Kentucky releases its sophomore album after their eponymous first album reached as high as #7 on the U.S. Indie charts.  Another band I've seen live (in 2009's KROQ Acoustic Christmas show) although they didn't leave a huge impression as I had to ask a friend that also attended the show whether or not they sounded good that night (apparently they did not).  Let's see if their new album leaves a more lasting impression than their live show.

The album begins with "Always Something" which has a progressive rock feel with non-standard beats and a singing style that doesn't really match up with the harmonies of the song but somehow they manage to mostly pull it off.  Next is a more standard alternative rock song, "Aberdeen" which begins with a guitar riff similar to something off a The Pixies or Lush album and crescendos to a hard rocking chorus although the song looses some of its cohesiveness by the time it goes all psych rock on us.  Unfortunately, after the second track, the album starts to become less consistent in the songs it gives us.  There are a couple of high points ("Shake Me Down" and "Right Before My Eyes") but a lot of the other songs seem to ramble without any real sense of direction ("Sell Yourself" and "Sabertooth Tiger").

Overall, it's an album that is all over the place with songs that seem to be placed on the album at random.  This is not to say that the band ventures from their garage/punk rock tendencies but rather that the album seems to be spliced together from random tracks they've completed over the year instead of intelligently placed to create a cohesive album.  As far as the music itself goes, the band gives us an album with a lot of energy and there's a few gems scattered throughout the disc but there's a lot more that miss the mark.

Score:  6/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Aberdeen" [sample it below]