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iTunes Music Review - Pressure Chief (3 out of 5)

Pressure Chief
- 3 out of 5
- Cake
- Reviewed by Bryan Chaffin
- Pressure Chief, Cake's latest album, didn't immediately grab me. In fact, it took perhaps half a dozen listens before I started truly enjoying it. Anymore, however, and I just love it.
  
  Pressure Chief is a product of a band that is not only maturing, but one that has grown more sophisticated. At least, that's my take on the band's increased usage of keyboards and de-emphasized guitars.
  
  This is not to say that Cake went all Chicago on us, but Pressure Chief is decidedly subtler in its approach than an album like Fashion Nugget. What's not missing, however, are the band's signature guitar riffs (Xan McCurdy -- "Wheels," "No Phone"), weird vocal rhythms and excellent lyrics (John McCrea -- "No Phone"), awesome harmonies and fascinating trumpet (Vince DiFiore ("Tougher Than It Is"), foundation bass-lines (Gabe Nelson ("No Phone,"), and solid drums that compliment the music without getting in the way.
  
  Those elements are still there, but they are somewhat softer than past offerings.
  
  Pressure Chief also comes with Jon McCrea's usual, socially progressive preaching -- "No Phone" derides the evils of cell phones and "Carbon Monoxide" complains about the evils of cars -- but the bulk of the album is comprised of his somehwhat different brand of a breakup song, with impressionistic lyrics that paint a remarkably vivid picture ("She'll Hang the Baskets," "Take It All Away," "End of the Movie").
  
  The band's customary cover is Bread's "Guitar Man." While lacking the "Man, this is how it should have been done in the first place" impact of "I Will Survive," it's still an enjoyable interpretation of a 70's mainstay.
  
  If we did half ratings, I would have given this album a 3.5. As it is, Pressure Chief is a solid offering from a great band, and it's well worth the time it took for me to come to love it.
  - Bryan Chaffin
Bryan Chaffin has been a musician all his life, and enjoys both playing and listening to a variety of music. His interest in the iPod grew from covering Apple for The Mac Observer, but it's iPodObserver.com that will allow him to marry his passion for technology to his love for music.