Not enough of my friends squishing my tummy right now tbqh

i volunteer

Get them claws right in there!

Comfort Eagle by Cake

Let's do this one a little bit different, my usual approach is getting stale.

How does genre work? What is its instructive purpose? There's always arguments about prescriptivist approaches to genre, usually among those who get really angry if you and them don't agree on what genre a song or album or artist belongs to. From my own background, this usually manifested in arguments on what's "really rock" or not, what's rock versus metal, and if anything is "pop" or not (this usually being the meanest thing you could say to an artist, for some reason). I'm usually descriptivist in most fields. Things are what they are, rather than what they're told to be. Musical descriptivism usually runs into the problem of scope - too granular and there's infinitely many genres that the labels are useless; not granular enough and we've created overinclusive labels that don't actually announce anything about what's being described. The easy medium is to let the creators define themselves, but that puts a bit of unfair onus on musicians to pigeonhole themselves. Not the least bit true due to biases held by the artists themselves - history is full of whinging from artists claiming to be a genre or not be a different genre.

So why would we use genre in regards to music? From a purely functional perspective, I feel that its use comes from bridging understanding. You like a band - you know its genre is X. I see and acknowledge this and I tell you "Hey, you like X. This band is also X. Maybe you'd like them?" And you may try it out and say "Yeah, they're both X and I like both" or maybe you realize that your view of X and my view of X differ enough that your understanding of what is X may change. "Oh, maybe if that band is X, I've heard this band is similar but I've never heard it called X before. Is it?"

Usually this may lead to cessation of using genre a tall and working descriptively again. "Hey, you like This Band. I think they're pretty similar musically to Other Band. You should try them out." The problem then becomes that you can no longer generalize this beyond the accepted cases. You have to vet individually. Sure, there's clines of similarity that may already exist, but how sharp do they have to be before they don't convey similarity at all? By what metrics should you compare bands? Sonically? Lyrically? Thematically? How does which element you choose emphasize in comparison display your own tastes and understandings? It's a bit of a fractal.

This has been an excessive number of words to simply to prime a core thought I had while listening to Comfort Eagle. "This is a very TMBG-y album."

I mean this comparison with utmost respect - I love TMBG. They do very fun experiments in style and composition that makes even some of their more middling albums a good listen. And I see a lot of those elements in this album, albeit perhaps not as extremely as you may on, say, Flood or similar. Cake is pretty firmly rooted in that late-90s alt rock sound, but you could say the same for a lot of TMBG contemporary to it. There's plenty of brass and ska elements, but that was the same on John Henry. The lyrics have both a simple surface-level picture to paint while letting the colors drip into unsettling subtext (again, just like TMBG, you're following, yes?). John McCrae even sounds a little like John Linnell (they're even both Johns!!!).

This isn't to say Cake doesn't have its own identity. It definitely has a bit of a more distinctly harder edge to things. "Sinister" is a word I use to describe more than a few songs on here. Part of it just comes from overall themes of the album tackling the state of upper-middle Americana right before 9/11. From indulging in cultural narcissism on "Opera Singer" to the paradoxical otherworldliness and mundanity of the girl in "Short Skirt, Long Jacket". It drips in irony and double-meaning, often for cruel effect. It is also undoubtedly clever (mostly). Shadow boxing? No - "Shadow Stabbing." The focal character in "Commissioning a Symphony in C" has chosen the most basic key to make his grand display of money and power in. That sardonic attitude of the late-90s is still boiling here, and I for one enjoy that brand of scathing.

I very much enjoyed Comfort Eagle and it's made me very interested in both the rest of their catalogue as well as branch-off artists. My comparison to TMBG was not wholly original - I did see the two artists in the same breath not too long ago, in describing another artist. And yeah, I see it for sure. I don't know if three bands can support a whole genre, but it's an impeccable vibe that I want more.

Favorite Song: Comfort Eagle
There were a lot of songs that vied for this one. "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" is bouncy and grooving while idolizing a woman that cannot exist and whose existence is both heightened and dulled. "Opera Singer" really sets the stage for the odd places the album will go. "Commissioning a Symphony in C" paints a vividly pathetic picture that's close to haunting. "Long Line of Cars" hits that dark anticonsumerist angle that I think is perfected by the title track. It possesses such a drive as it acts a dark gospel, likening the ceaseless march of capitalism to a burgeoning cult that is quickly becoming too powerful to fight. Add in the unique instrumentation choices that create a heightened mood, and it is a true standout.

Kobold Rating: 5/5

I have in some senses, but not in the vessel! Many of the kobolds I know are very far away, but there are certainly some I would like to smooch~

The ultimate sneak attack :3
Hit em with the tailwhap and then dragon attack!!