Cake is an American rock band formed in Sacramento, California in 1991 around John McCrea's deadpan delivery and Vince DiFiore's trumpet, splicing funk, country, and disco into wry alternative rock. Fashion Nugget (1996) — home of The Distance — and Comfort Eagle are the keepers. Browse Cake vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Cake formed in Sacramento, California in 1991 around John McCrea. The band's distinctive sound emerged through the early 1990s and gained wider attention with Fashion Nugget (1996), which produced the singles The Distance and I Will Survive (Gloria Gaynor cover). They signed with Capricorn Records and later Columbia, before launching their own Upbeat Records imprint for Showroom of Compassion (2011), which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
Cake's sound combines alternative rock, indie rock, country rock, and funk with McCrea's distinctive deadpan vocal delivery, Vince DiFiore's trumpet (a defining sonic element), and arrangements that frequently incorporate disco, hip hop, and Latin influences. The band's aesthetic is often described as ironic, literate, and stylistically restless.
Capricorn and Columbia pressings of the Cake catalog have been issued in multiple variants. Fashion Nugget and Comfort Eagle in particular have had anniversary editions.
Listeners new to Cake typically start with Fashion Nugget (1996) or Comfort Eagle (2001).
