CD Title: Comfort Eagle

Sony/Columbia Records

By Adam Bowman

Thanks to John McCrea's quirky lyrical ability combined with the solid rhythm section of Vicent di Fiore (trumpet), Gabriel Nelson (bass) and Todd Roper (drums), Cake has managed to earn a recurring role in music's mainstream whilst never losing their reputation of being fun, yet solid musicians.

Their new album, "Comfort Eagle" is like the soundtrack to a television show that you have never seen before, but never quite come to the point of flipping the channel. Although never overpowering or emotionally moving, songs such as "Meanwhile, Rick James...", "Commissioning A Symphony In C" are good sing-alongs, while "Love You Madly" would be a fine choice to start flowing through radio stations soon.

With "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" having already been a moderate success to the band, you can expect more of the same throughout the album. Vicent di Fiore's trumpet work on "Long Line Of Cars" and the more guitar-oriented tunes of the album's title track are highlights, but the funk drumbeats and folk-like melodies tend to become a little overdone as the album progresses. That being said, "Comfort Eagle" isn't going to win over legions of fans or top the Billboard 200, but then again, Cake probably could care less. Dare I even say..."Let Billboard eat cake?"