Cake - Pressure Chief
Our Price: $12.87
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.71 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: CakeEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-10-05
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Wheels
- No Phone
- Take It All Away
- Dime
- Carbon Monoxide
- The Guitar Man
- Waiting
- She'll Hang the Baskets
- End of the Movie
- Palm of Your Hand
- Tougher Than It Is
Music reviews of Pressure Chief
Music Review: Smaller slices, but CAKE still tastes good!
Rating: 4 Stars
Those who hear the name CAKE already know a little bit of what to expect from their latest album. And if you like what they've done in their last four records, then you'll probably like the fifth. To me, CAKE has always seemed like a marriage of country music and The Cars: one part twang, one part new wave, and a healthy dose of wit. On Pressure Chief, each of these elements seems to have been intensified, but the feeling of 80's pop is starting to emerge as the main theme.
There's one big reason for this. After Fashion Nugget, the album with the most famous of CAKE tunes, "The Distance," about half of the original band left. Jon McCrea, lead singer, was left as the main songwriter and did a fantastic job with the follow-up, the fittingly-titled Prolonging the Magic. Then, when working on the next album, the drummer got up and left. Instead of hiring a new guy, McCrea decided to add to his own musical resume. He became virtuoso of the drum machine, which gave the album Comfort Eagle a tight structure not heard in CAKE before. It was a little off-putting at first, but once you got used to it the album was pretty good and just as catchy as the earlier ones.
On Pressure Chief, McCrea goes one step beyond drum machines. Now the Atari-era bleeps and bloops of a Casio keyboard can be heard on almost every song. It can be very strange at first to hear this mixed in with trumpets and a twanging electric guitar, but it works, especially on the first single, "No Phone." Never before has one of McCrea's songs had such energy and atmosphere, and it's the robotic drumming and creative production styles that get it there. CAKE's songs have always had a structure that is catchy and repetitive, but now they're trying to break it up with more sonic surprises and I like it.
I also like the fact that, for what I think is the first time, McCrea actually SINGS during the entire album! The spoken-word stuff has its place (or maybe it doesn't anymore. We'll see once the reviews for William Shatner's new album come out) and it sounded great on songs like "The Distance" and "Short Skirt, Long Jacket," but I'm glad that McCrea's finally showing us that he can carry a tune. For the most part, too, the lyrics are up to par with past albums. McCrea lives in the Sacramento area, and he has always poked fun at the hip coastal California lifestyle in his lyrics. In the new album he states his opinion on being a pedestrian in a world of cars and polluted air, and manages to mock punk rock at the same time in "Carbon Monoxide." In "Wheels," he sings about the "muscular cyborg German dudes" who "dance with sexy French Canadians" in a karaoke bar. By the end of the album, though, it's almost as if McCrea just ran out of steam. "She'll Hang the Baskets" is one of the weakest CAKE songs ever, and "Palm of Your Hand" and "Tougher than It is" end the album on an uninspired note. Only the quiet, intimate "End of the Movie" keeps the last half of the album from being forgettable.
Pressure Chief is an extremely short album, running at about 35 minutes. However, it's enough. A CAKE fan doesn't expect a rock opera or groundbreaking new sounds or sudden changes in direction, like a Radiohead album or even a band like Wilco. We just want some catchy new hooks and some fun new lyrics to recite, and this is something CAKE always delivers. Pressure Chief will satisfy until the next album comes out, when only Jon McCrea is left in a room with all the instruments, playing and recording everything by himself. Hey, Ben Folds pulled it off.
Description of Pressure Chief
Limited edition Japanese pressing includes a bonus DVD (NTSC/Region 2) which includes the tracks 'No Phone' & 'The Guitar Man'. The audio CD adds 4 tracks not on the US version - 'Excuse Me. I Think I`ve Got A Heartache', 'Mahna Mahna', 'Wheels (Live Radio Session Courtesy Of Triple M.sydney Australia) & 'Short Skirt.long Jacket' (Live Radio Session Courtesy Of Triple M.sydney Australia). Sony Music Entertainment. 2006.While artists like Beck and Radiohead see every new album as an opportunity for reinvention from the ground up, Cake has no such hang-ups. From the uniformly rustic cover art, the jerky rhythms and wobbly trumpet solos, each of Sacramento band's albums is reassuringly interchangeable. But on its fifth, the group's most distinguishing characteristic--John McCrea's deadpan, detached vocals--seems to have been given a makeover. On songs such as "No Phone" and "Tougher Than It Is" for the first time the singer seems, well, like he's actually trying to sing. It's nothing dramatic--the music will still sound immediately familiar to those who even in passing have heard hits such as "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" and "The Distance"--but with certain bands a little goes a long way. --Aidin Vaziri
Alternative Rock CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Alternative Rock CDs
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal LaughterRelease date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Blondie - Parallel LinesRelease date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $149.98
Doors - L.A. WomanRelease date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $99.99
Amon Duul - Phallus DeiRelease date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Tangerine Dream - MelroseRelease date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Tangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine DreamRelease date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
![Ska Explosion [VHS] Image](/images/Ska-Explosion-VHS-6303381014-X.jpg){kind=small}
Ska Explosion [VHS]Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
![Little Earthquakes [VHS] Image](/images/Little-Earthquakes-VHS-6302488664-X.jpg){kind=small}
Little Earthquakes [VHS]Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops:
Exileby Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
![Louder Than Live [VHS] Image](/images/Louder-Than-Live-VHS-6301627865-X.jpg){kind=small}
Soundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $202.44
Similar CDs
Weezer - PinkertonRelease date: 1996-09-24; Music CD
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)Release date: 1994-05-10; Music CD
Best price: $5.11
Price in other shops:
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & GraceRelease date: 2007-09-25; Music CD
Best price: $6.35
Price in other shops:
Fashion Nuggetby Cake
Published: 1996; Music CD
Best price: $9.39
Cake - Showroom Of CompassionRelease date: 2011-01-11; Music CD
Best price: $9.25
Price in other shops:
Cake - B Sides & RaritiesRelease date: 2007-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $6.44
Price in other shops:
Cake - Motorcade of GenerosityRelease date: 2009-06-09; Music CD
Best price: $6.57
Price in other shops:
Cake - Prolonging the MagicRelease date: 1998-10-06; Music CD
Best price: $5.54
Price in other shops:
Cake - Comfort EagleRelease date: 2001-07-24; Music CD
Best price: $5.11
Price in other shops:
Cake - Fashion NuggetRelease date: 1996-09-17; Music CD
Best price: $4.84
Price in other shops: