Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Upcoming Music Releases -- Cage the Elephant and Cake

With my thoughts (and much of my writing) focusing on REM's March release and the later summer release of a debut from the Casey James Band, I thought I'd take a look at some other upcoming releases that are intriguing to me.  Two alternative bands have CDs coming out next week -- Cage the Elephant and Cake

Cage the Elephant had a hit last year with Ain't No Rest for the Wicked.  A punk-blues band out of Bowling Green, Kentucky, they played Lollapalooza last year as well as opening for Silversun Pickups and STP.  If you think you're not familiar with Cage, you probably have at least heard this, their first hit, which was a free download on iTunes and then went on to be used quite often.


Their other best known song from their first album is Back Against the Wall


Here's a single off their upcoming CD, entitled "Thank you, Happy Birthday." The definitely have a White Stripes vibe to me.



Cake's next CD is entitled Showroom of Compassion.  Again, if you don't already have any of their albums, you still are probably more familiar with them than you know.  The Sacramento band has been around since the 1990s and have five previous albums.  They're more funk than punk and truly alternative in their treatment of the rock genre.  I'm sure you've heard the following song.  But first....

Okay, here's my true confession. I thought this was Beck for the longest time. Seriously. But, c'mon, you can hear the similarity, right? They both speak/sing their songs and have convoluted, interesting instrumentation.  Agreed?  Or have I just lost whatever credibility I had?

I love this video.  Even if you don't love their music, the people on the streets asked for their opinion are priceless.  My favorite, "I don't like the na na na part in the chorus."  Amen, brother.


Here's Sick of You, the first single off their new CD.  I like them, but, really, it is Beck, isn't it?

3 comments:

  1. I love Cake, thanks for this Shari! I didn't know they were coming out with a new CD. Agree though, does sound a bit like Beck, lol!

    Patti (caseyscrew205)

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  2. Thank you for the nostalgia trip, Shari. I love Cake and "The Distance" takes me back to college :) I bought the "Fashion Nugget" album back then solely for that song and their "I Will Survive" cover.

    The new Cake single reminded me of someone else, but it wasn't Beck. At first I couldn't figure out who I was thinking of but then it hit me - during the chorus with that horn part, it sort of sounds like Ben Folds. Maybe that's just because I don't know that many Ben Folds songs. And the singer in Cake doesn't sound all that much like Ben Folds during the rest of the song or any of their other songs, so maybe it was the horn part...

    I can definitely hear the Beck in the other Cake songs though. But, I guess because the first Beck album I bought was Sea Change, I didn't get the two confused too easily.

    Jen (@JM_Taylor)

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  3. I love Cage the Elephant's past stuff, but I'm even more excited to hear what they have coming on their new album "Melophobia"! Comes out 10/8, can't wait. http://smarturl.it/Melophobia

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