Cake

There’s nothing cake-like about this album. Nothing spongy, overly sweet. No need to drink milk when you’re done. If you love Cake, the group’s fourth album, Comfort Eagle, won’t let you down. Cake has perfected the art of building its patented sound so that each new album comprehensively evokes the last, without sounding rehashed or watered down.

Fun songs like “Opera Singer” and “Pretty Pink Ribbon” go to the heart of this group’s simple and yet complex ditties. Others like “Shadow Stabbing” (first sung a decade back in Sacramento cafés) and “Comfort Eagle” remain fun while evoking a different level of consciousness in the lyrics.

The album art, like the tunes, continues the look consistent with all past Cake albums; the Cake catalog resembles more a set of grocery store encyclopedias than a decade’s worth of work. Certainly success hasn’t spoiled the band yet; this volume will please without leaving a sugary aftertaste.