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Cake has blended so many genres of music over their 15-year stint as a band that its hard to classify them, except to call them extremely innovative and successful.
The band formed in Sacramento, Calif., in 1991. While there have been several lineup changes, the group is currently made up of vocalist/guitarist John McCrea, Xan McCurdy on guitar, Gabe Nelson on bass, Vince DiFiore on trumpet and Paulo Baldi on drums.
Some styles that the band is known to combine include alternative rocke, funk, pop, ska, jazz and rap, all supporting the syncopation (a form of rap) from McCrea. Heavy use of DiFiors trumpet is also a trademark of the group. Over the years, they have been compared to other eclectic groups such as Talking Heads, The Cars and They Might be Giants.
The group has released five albums, beginning with "Motorcade of Generosity" in 1994. Cake really jumped into the big time when "The Distance" was released off of "Fashion Nugget," their second album, propelling it to the top of the charts. A cover of "I Will Survive" was also a successful single off of the album. "Sheep go to Heaven" and "Let Me Go" came from "Prolonging the Magic," as well as their biggest hit to date, "Never There." Most recently, "No Phone" and "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" was released off of "Comfort Eagle" in 2004.
In addition to commercial success, the group has found a lot of success with television themes. The theme for NBCs "Chuck" is based off of "Short Skirt/Long Jacket," "Italian Leather Sofa" instrumental is the theme song for "Mission Hill," and they performed the song "Daria" for the MTV show.
They also found success in movie realm. "Shadow Stabbing" was featured in "Orange County," "Word Play" and "Shallow Hall," and "Hem of your Garment" was in "Me, Myself and Irene."
While the band hasnt released an album since 2004, two are in the works - a live album, "Live at Crystal Palace" and "B-Sides and Rarities" will be released soon. The group has been spending time on the road, traveling with a wide array of bands such as The Flaming Lips, Cheap Trick, the Brazilian Girls, De La Soul and Modest Mouse.
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