It’s official: I’m adding the banjo to my musical instrument repertoire. I no longer own a piano; I gave my clarinet to a musician in Los Angeles (he’s recorded with it twice already); so it’s time for something new. Plus, I need a winter project. I asked my dad if I could borrow his banjo and he said, all in the same breath, that of course I could and to get my own damned banjo, instead. He’s excited that I’m taking it up and said I’ll really stand out now at parties.

Matt and I went to see Tim O’Reagan from the Jayhawks open for Mojave 3 Friday night, and it was there that I made my decision. He can’t wait to make fun of me practicing, like I do when he sings in the shower.

Ah, music and writing: I love combining the two. I’m going to post some archived concert reviews from my bygone days of partying like (often with) and writing about rock stars.

Nuvo Newsweekly
Cake/Beulah Preview
Murat
November 6, 2001

The sardonic consciousness and irreverent spin on modern day banality is a theme best conveyed by the band Cake: presumably why they chose not to name the band Meat and Potatoes. Their practically patented raw and reputable irony, and the keen ability to shoot it straight (while straight-faced), led this unique act to their fourth album, Comfort Eagle. As the late 1990s airwaves were clogged with “alternative” bands, the term lost its niche, and the scene deeply needed an alternative to the alternative. Many bands tried. Cake’s 1995 debut, Motorcade of Generosity (originally released on cassette) began the course for what would later become deep-seated, funky, hill-jack rock, offering audiences a reprieve from many commiserating, bonny-lad whiners. Since the humorously smarmy single “The Distance,” off of the 1996 second release and first platinum album, Fashion Nugget, Cake has been contributing wry, intelligent songs with a prolific fervor of “post-alternative” expression. A deadpan, sleepy version of the Gloria Gaynor disco wonder, “I Will Survive,” and pert “Frank Sinatra,” also on Fashion Nugget, sealed their fate as hep, goofy funk lords, with a flair for the bentrovato. The success of this album launched their third album, Prolonging the Magic, into its platinum best with the songs “Satan Is My Motor,” “Never There,” and “Sheep Go To Heaven.” Frontman and principle wordsmith, John McCrea, sings with a voice that may not have been chosen for choir or school plays, but since his incipient, he’s managed to outsmart the lot, delving richly into clever, offhanded witticisms and boon-like yuks. He’s backed by his band, slinky trumpet player Vince di Fiore, bassist Gabe Nelson, guitarist Xan McCurdy, and new drummer, Pete McNeal, son of Claude McNeal—Indy’s American Cabaret Theater director.

Amid Pete’s airport security checkpoints from LAX to Chicago, I was able to speak with him about his new position with Cake, who he says has been “very gracious and supportive of me professionally and personally. They weren’t certain of the fan base in Indy, but knowing that I have family there is one of the reasons we’ll be playing an Indy show.” McNeal, who played with the band Sumack, was a long-time fan of Cake himself. When former drummer Todd Roper left the band, Pete’s name came with a high recommendation from Michael Urband of Smash Mouth. This led to phone interviews, and auditions, which Pete says, “were taxing, and no walk in the park. I had to learn eighteen new songs by the time it was all over, but Cake knew who they were looking for, and thankfully, it was me.” I asked him about being the son of the cabaret master, to which he replied, “Yeah, it all began with a Keystone Cop routine my dad put me in when I was six, and living in Connecticut. I was accidentally thrown off the stage.” Pete professed, “Cake is a hard working band. This is definitely the most exciting and rewarding time of my life.”

Cake will play the Murat November 6, doling out plenty of eighth-note songs from Comfort Eagle, where they recently jumped from Capricorn Records, to the musical magnate -- we’re here to sell alotta records -- Columbia Records. Lyrics crafted from the title track, “Comfort Eagle” lend prophecy to the band’s potential with Columbia: “We are building a religion. We are building it bigger. We are widening the corridors and adding more lanes.” With heralding reviews running amok, the likelihood of their continued success seems a path well cut. The band will perform their latest single, “Love you Madly” on Letterman November 12, and they just completed a new music video for said single--a follow up to their last video for “Short Skirt/Long Jacket.” In the video, passersby were stopped and asked to listen to the song on headphones; the video is an honest account of their reactions. Pete says this next video “will be a cooking contest.” Could it be? Would they dare make…cake?

The San Francisco band Beulah will open for Cake; a good choice for such a transition. Creative and beautifully pop, this layered-alt-rock band brings to mind background music in a That Girl sitcom; a refreshing sound of carefree happiness and serenity, though listen closely to the lyrics—they’re strangely dark: always a fun combination.