Thursday, June 16, 2011

Idiosyncratic rock band Cake to play two shows in NYC

Many musical artists speak out against deforestation and needless waste.

Talk, however, is cheap. Cake frontman John McCrea believes in taking action.

"We toured Germany a few years ago," says McCrea, 45. "We learned that they were the No. 1 producer of solar energy in the world. This wasn?t because they?re a sunny country. It?s because they had the political will to make it happen.

"As Californians, we felt pretty ashamed of ourselves."

The pop-rock band returned to the sunny Golden State with a mission, installing panels on the roof of their recording space. By the time they were finished with the renovation, they were creating so much solar energy that the meters were running backward. "Showroom of Compassion," their latest album, was made entirely by power generated by the band.

The remodeling of the ironically named Upbeat Studio (Cake?s music is rarely cheery) helps to account for the seven-year gap between 2004?s "Pressure Chief" and "Showroom." But it wasn?t the only reason for the break.

"Converting the studio to solar energy took time," says McCrea, who has helmed the irreverent band since the mid-?90s. "But we also had to extricate ourselves from our label deal. We had to make our own label, and figure out how it could be safe to release an album into the crumbling infrastructure of the music business."

McCrea?s patience was rewarded. "Showroom of Compassion" made its debut atop the Billboard 200, surprising the members of the long-running Sacramento band and its fans.

"As we were recording, we watched the precipitous decline of the industry. For awhile, we wondered if there would be anybody left to buy the album when it came out. It was a salutory feeling for the band when people remembered that we existed."

While the rest of the industry gave ground, Cake held fast: "Showroom" sold very close to the number of albums "Pressure Chief" did seven years ago. McCrea considers it appropriate that "Showroom" was the lowest-selling No. 1 album in the history of the Billboard charts. They?ve made it to the summit with gloom, pessimism ("Every shiny toy that once brought you joy/Will soon begin to cloy and annoy" is a typical lyric from the new set) and a modest, self-effacing sound. Where other rock guitarists strum power chords, Cake?s Xan McCurdy ? one of the true six-string originals working in contemporary pop ? picks out scratchy lines and tiny, funky, broken chords. In the place of screaming solos, multi-instrumentalist Vince DiFiore blows tasteful trumpet leads.

Almost everything about Cake is unorthodox, but quietly so. It?s as if the group doesn?t want to call attention to its own oddity.

"Coming out in the early ?90s, things were grandiose," says McCrea. "Bands had this spectacular self-importance. With everything else so huge and godlike, I guess we preferred to sound small. We wanted to develop a sound that was more human."

He adopted a vocal style that suited the material. He often speaks rhythmically straight through his songs, telling his stories in a deadpan patter that owes as much to the staccato delivery of TV announcers as it does to mainstream emcees.

"I always thought it was tyrannical that if you weren?t a rapper, you had to sing," he says. "I wanted to be able to talk through a song without having to have a mandatory melody."

Over the years, Cake has earned a reputation for black humor. Much of what?s funny about the band is its commitment to misdirection and surprise: McCrea writes about subjects that other groups won?t touch.

"Federal Funding," the kickoff track from "Showroom of Compassion," lampoons the institutionalized scramble for grant money. "Bound Away" finds the narrator stuck between destinations and waiting for his luggage to roll off an airplane; the fate of his plastic utensil becomes a symbol of the futility he feels.

As always, McCrea uses small moments and closely observed details to shed light on large concepts.

"Even if you?re writing anti-establishment punk rock songs," says McCrea, "if the conveyance system you?re using is a huge, wide-load megatruck, it?s not going to seem subversive. Rock production sometimes befuddles me. If you?re going to write about saving the world, can?t you make it possible to hear the lyrics?

"I understand the visceral thrill of loud guitar. It?s probably similar to the visceral thrill that Exxon feels when mowing down the rainforest."


Cake
Where and when: Tuesday at Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 N. 6th St., Brookyn; Thursday at Terminal 5, 610 West 56th St., New York. Both shows at 8 p.m.
How much: $40 per show. Call (212) 582-6600 or visit bowerypresents.com.

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