CAKE WILL PERFORM SUNDAY, JULY 27

Reveling in idiosyncrasy and defying current musical trends, CAKE arrived in the 1996 alternative rock mainstream as something of an antidote to the era’s overwrought angst. Their up-tempo and good-natured mix of driving funk rhythms, hook-filled guitar and horn riffs, and John McCrea’s irreverent delivery stood out as a distinct counterpoint to the often bleak and performative aloof cool of mainstream alternative rock’s first wave.

Their debut LP, Fashion Nugget, positioned the band as an unlikely standard-bearer for what might be affectionately dubbed “geek rock.” CAKE followed up with the cheekily-titled Prolonging The Magic replete with many signature CAKE elements: the pumping bass and funky drum groove, surfy, staccato guitar riffs, and McCrea’s deadpan vocal that, while nonchalant, nonetheless feels earnest and connected. CAKE continued to produce new records into the early 2000s, hitting a peak with 2001’s Comfort Eagle. CAKE most recently performed a live video cut for Texas Public Radio of a new straightforward, non-satirical song “Billionaires In Space.”

While other bands of the time may have succumbed to external or internal forces or devolved into self-parody, CAKE has avoided self-indulgence, maintaining the humorous irony integral to their sound, in order to create and play fun music.

- Mike Dunn