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