Fashion Nugget by Cake
by Lana Fleischli
A friend of mine told me a while ago that I might like this album. From the title, Fashion Nugget, I had no idea what to expect. “What kind of music is it?” I asked. He responded with, “Alternative rock.” Pretty vague, I must say, however, I decided to give it a try.
I don’t know what I expected, but it wasn’t what I expected. Cake has a sound. Their music goes to the beat of their own drum-- a little offbeat. While that doesn’t sound like a good thing, I really think it is! Lead singer, John McCrea, lengthens his words, making him seem slower than the song and the rhythm. It is really cool because it works and is something I rarely hear in music. This really stood out to me. It really shines through in their cover of Gloria Gaynor’s, “I Will Survive.” Who doesn’t know the words to that song? I began singing along to the cover, but John McCrea’s singing was hard to keep up with. He sang it exactly how he wanted to, and it was nothing like Gloria! Again, I think this is super creative and makes Cake stand out. They have a very original sound.
The other thing I really liked about Fashion Nugget is the darkness behind the lyrics. There’s a sarcastic tone that plays throughout the album. In the song, “Sad Songs and Waltzes,” McCrea sings about what we as a society think is good music, and what we as a society are into. He sings:
“I'm writing a song all about you
A true song as real as my tears
But you've no need to fear it
'Cause no one will hear it
Sad songs and waltzes aren't selling this year”
I found these lyrics very striking because he kind of has two different stories at play. He is singing to someone, but he is singing about how he has to decide what to release for others because he knows that sad songs “aren’t selling this year.” I wonder if this is something that many musicians think about? "Should we change the way we consume music so that people don't have to compromise their creative vision for profit? Is this even possible?"
Some of the tone is just a dark twist to things that we think about. In the song, “Friend Is A Four Letter Word,” there’s a bit of a dark tone to the idea that the “-end” means that friends don’t last. That’s just dark. To me, it seemed like it was about the idea that those “friends” are more like acquaintances because only the friends that are like family actually last. “Friends” usually end at some point. It’s a sad twist to the idea that friends can be family. If friends can be the family that you choose, then the ones you don’t choose won’t be there forever.
Even though Fashion Nugget can be described as “alternative rock,” I feel like there is so much to this album that one genre title tells nothing of what to expect. Cake is very original in sound and in lyrics. Their lyrics play with society and what they have to do to make money in society, while also critiquing society and the idea of friendships. Fashion Nugget is a great listen that is thought-provoking, while also musically intriguing!