Cake - Motorcade of Generosity


Let's talk about Cake. No, i take that back, let's talk about Robert Christgau. He is one of Bottle's mentors, after all. There's great albums, A. They are rare. There are good albums, B. They are less rare. There are also various levels of hilariously bad albums. In between lie the honorable mentions 1, 2, and 3 star. Why? Because these are albums that people predisposed to like them probably will. I like the idea that most albums fall into the 3 star system between good and bad albums. I also like that he will listen to anything and make an honest assessment of it within his established likes and biases. I'm the Todd in the Shadows version of that.

I honestly don't know what to say about Cake's first album, Motorcade of Generosity. It's unique. I mean, yes there's irony, but it's not IRONIC. There are some sarcastic lyrics, but it's not SARCASTIC. Christgau calls it "unambiguity from the near side of cool." 

Oh, i got it. The banality of hyperbolically ironic modernity. A Bob Newhartian chronicle of hipster ennui. Seinfeld on Xanax. 

I always get the sense that John McCrea thinks the whole thing is dumb. Yes we're a band, yes i'm a songwriter, yes music is important, BUT STOP DEMANDING TO LIKE EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME! 

How dare you enjoy this, we're wasting a lot of money and making the world more horrible in a desperately ironic attemp to convince you stop wasting money and make the world a little better. I get that. I'm like that. I think i'm an idiot illustrating how to try to not be such an idiot.

Cake is like Spoon, there ain't no surprise evolution taking place. I like Motorcade and Fashion Nugget, the rest is someone else's problem. My Grandma Mildred really liked their version of Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps. 

Oh yeah, Cake, don't they like want you to stop building nuclear warheads and plant trees and stuff? 

No, they want you to stop fixating on the pointless conundrums of artificial ceremony. The more you do it, the dumber you get, and the harder to we have to try to snap you out of it. Then that becomes work, and now we're dumb too. Look at us, we're a band being pointless to try to get you to go do something. That's retarded.

Now i kind of feel guilty for enjoying it. Help, i'm a sheeple.

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