Customer Reviews

Fashion Nugget (Clean)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Cake are certainly an alternative group. Their music is about as willfully different to the mainstream as you can go while still being always listenable and their lyrics range from the mundane and symbolic to the intentionally bizarre.

"Fashion Nugget" contains most of Cake's best work to date - especially the singles "The Distance", "Frank Sinatra" and "I Will Survive". These three tracks alone serve as a great introduction to Cake's musical philosophy.

The lyrics throughout the album either cover simple topics (such as cars) or seem to go some way toward discussing more cerebral topics such as - I think - the breakdown of families, the nature of love and friendship and so on.

Cake's singer - whose name I have forgotten - has a marvellously deadpan delivery with (on "I Will Survive" especially) a very creative use of pause to convey ironic meaning. Their musicians are also top-notch, often giving the impression of being just about to veer off into dissonance only to just hold it together to the end of the track.

Most of the tracks here will appear to be quite obscure on first listening - feel free to think "what the heck are they on about?" after you've heard tracks like "The Distance" and "Open Book". But, after thinking about the lyrics, you'll probably decide that they mean something - just what is most probably up to you.

In that may lie the entire point of the album. The lyrics mean different things to different people depending on what they are thinking at the time - they are that symbolic.

The other attraction of the album for me is that Cake cannot take themselves seriously in music. While other artists are writing self-conscious lyrics which sound almost identical, Cake are experimenting with words ("When you tried to tell me the one for me was you/I was inside your mattress in 1982" - Daria), music (their guitarist sounds at times like a terrible amateur but then switches to be the guitar equivalent of Primus' Des Claypool - simply amazing work on "Race Car Ya Yas" and a few other places in the album) and conventions (watch the almost-harmony in the chorus of "Open Book").

This album is definitely not for everyone. Even those who do like it will probably have times of hating it alternating with times of playing it and nothing else. It is, however, an album worth listening to - even if you don't own it, there's something here for most moods.

You've probably heard the radio tracks: I will survive & The distance, for example. And they are great. But what this album offers is 10 or so other tracks that are genious...the horns, the lyrics, McCrea's deadpan voice...Cake's other two offerings are awesome, but this is the one that hasn't left my CD changer for 4 years. Not a bad song on the album. Check out Open Book, Stickshifts, and She'll come back...

I have all the Cake albums, and I think they are all wonderful. However, despite my partiality to Prolonging the Magic, I really like this album. The songs are the weirdest (with the most bizarre lyrics) out of the four albums, but the musicality can speak to anyone. I especially like "Friend Is A Four-Letter Word" because it's so lyrically simple, but musically complex.

I have had this cd for about 3 1/2 years and I still listen to it all the time, It's that good! It is such a unique experience it's hard to put it in words. The guitar, the trumpet, the lyrics all melt into one to make this a fantastic cd. Especially with songs like "I Will Survive" and "The Distance." It's wierd some days the lyrics just seem funny and rediculous, then other times they really symbolize important events or times in you life. I would definitely at least listen to a few songs on this album 'cause you'll be hooked.

Every single song on this CD is an absolute masterpiece. Cake is a very atypical rock band, very difficult to compare to other. They are in a class of their own. Every time I listen to this (or Fashion Nugget, also by Cake), I find myself lost in some aspect of the music. Whether it is the guitar work which is primarily standard tuning and traditional chords, the intricate baselines which can only be described as flawless or the sometimes bizarre, always thought provoking lyrics, I find myself transfixed by the music.

The second I heard the CD I was entralled. It was amazing. I could feel the emotions behind their music. It moved me. Most music I listen to is shallow, and has no emotional depth. Fashion Nugget just calls to me. Yes, I may be getting in a little deep, but I love this CD!! I listen to Going the Distance nearly a hundred times over. I just can't get enough of it. I will survive and Frank Sinatra are my second choice songs, even though they're both great. They're differnent. I hope that anyone who reads this will at least listen to the CD. It's worth it.

Ok, we all know that Cake did not win any intellectual awards for their music...that does not mean that it will lower your IQ if you listen to it!! I love Cake because they are incredibly talented musically. Their lyrics are fun to listen to and make me laugh, but more importantly their MUSIC is superb and is not repetitive at all, unlike most bands nowdays! This is my favorite of their cds, I like every single song. Not only are the songs different from each other, but within each song are many different musical elements that makes this cd great to listen to! I definitely recommend this album. (I personally like the edited version...just my preference! :))

I liked this album for its moody, whiney edge. The trumpet sound is part of what makes this band work. Fun lyrics to sing along to, particularly on a blue day, the songs "Frank Sinatra" and "Daria" particularly.

Cake is a good, but almost unheard of band. I think their CD is great. I also really like their song "Never There"

The song "Perhaps", which sounds like a collage of songs is actually half (gasp) Abba's Fernando! I'm wondering what other 70's treasures are hidding in this Cake..