The Giant Panther

Cake is an interesting act. An American "Indie" band from Sacramento, CA, Cake burst onto the national scene around 1996 with a cover of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." Fashion Nugget was already their second record, but we didn't know that at the time. All we knew is that while Gloria Gaynor was famous for that song folks who listened to Cake and similar bands weren't typically fans of that type of music. It came across as more funny than anything else. The next thing I remember hearing is "The Distance," a song that thrust Cake into the spotlight. It had lyrics conducive to having the local professional sports franchises potentially adopting it as their marketing soundtrack. I know the Boston Bruins gave it a whirl at one point. As a result, Fashion Nugget is not the first record I reach for when considering a Cake CD. I can listen to "The Distance" if I have to, but it's gone the way of "Song 2" by Blur, "Tubthumping" by Chumbawumba, "Rock & Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter, "Let's Get It Started" by The Black Eyed Peas, "We Will Rock You" by Queen, "Centerfield" by John Fogerty, "All-Star" by Smashmouth, "Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns 'N Roses, "Unbelievable" by EMF, "Ready To Go" by Repulica, "Jump Around" by House of Pain and that god awful "Who Let The Dogs Out" by The Baja Men. You no longer care if you ever hear these tracks again. Ever. They're a little too easy as halftime fodder while watching the cheerleaders. You know you haven't heard the last of them so no reason to play them at home or add them to your iPod. They are overexposed for good. The Distance might be better than all of these tracks, but it has been dragged down to that level by virtue of its association with sporting events and TV commercials.

Cake, though, is a great band. They only have five records, a B-side compilation and a live disc. I'm sure it is intentional, but all of their album covers look very similar with a yellowish or white background. Nothing is very eye catching. It adds to their mystery I suppose. I last saw them at the Hatch Shell in Boston last summer at the Earth Day Festival. The played their cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." I had never heard it before. As a Black Sabbath fan, at least until 1978 or so, I loved it. I decided to post it for fun today. Make no mistake; Cake has a fine catalogue in their own right. I own all of their studio records, but Prolonging The Magic and Comfort Eagle are great records. I'm not sure which one I like the best, but you can trust me when I tell you that they are very much worth owning. Hardly a throwaway track across the board. Cake has always had a tongue in cheek sense of humor about them which I can really appreciate. I always like a little humor in my rock & roll. It makes it fun every now an then. "War Pigs" is one of the all time anti-war protest songs of our time. When Cake sings the lyrics you can actually understand what Ozzy was mumbling way back in 1971. They could never match the epic back beat of the Black Sabbath original, but I think you'll find this to be entertaining. I gave it the thumbs up both in concert and on record. Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there. Hopefully this one will be a sleeper cut on your iPod now...