The first thing that a new Cake listener will have to decide is if they can stand John McCrea’s voice. I’ve had a chance to see Cake live many times long before they ever released an album. I was blown away by how good they are live, and I was immediately sold on every aspect of the band. I do however realize that the biggest objection people will have to Cake is McCrea's vocal delivery. I put him in the same category as Geddy Lee of Rush and Les Claypool of Primus. The common denominator between these artists is that they have extremely unique voices that people will either love or despise. McCrea’s vocals, often subtly funny, are delivered in a deadpan manner, but his range isn’t the widest in the world. Listeners could easily just write him off as a neo-hippie slacker, but if you listen with an open mind, you may find McCrea’s voice and lyrics to be a refreshing change from stale alternative rock that never challenges you.

Jethro Tull has the flute, Korn has the bagpipes, and Cake has the ukulele. McCrea not only sings for the band but also plays funky riffs on the ukulele through a practice guitar amp. This jangly little sound rears its head quite often, and is at its best on songs such as "Love You Madly" and the instrumental ode to the Sacramento King’s home basketball court, "Arco Arena." Another part of Cake’s signature sound is the trumpet of backup vocalist/keyboardist Vince De Fiore. Although he doesn’t have Miles Davis-type chops, De Fiore plays well enough to give these already funky songs an even stronger ‘70s vibe.

Ultimately what really makes Cake’s music groove are the absolutely killer bass lines provided by Gabriel Nelson. He throws down some truly funky Bootsy Collins-inspired rhythms that truly are the foundation for all of the songs.

Besides "Love You Madly" and "Arco Arena," another standout is the title track "Comfort Eagle," a song that seems to be a little jab at a nameless music industry executive. "Now his hat is on backwards, he can show you his tattoos / He's in the music business, he is calling you DUDE!" sings McCrea with just a hint of disdain in his voice. The tune "Pretty Pink Ribbon" is a quirky love song that sounds like a 1960’s doo-wop tune that has been given the Cake treatment and is one the best on the album.

One disappointment for me with Comfort Eagle was that the song "Meanwhile, Rick James…" wasn’t as funny as I had hoped. I wanted to hear about Rick James tying up women, smoking crack pipes, and engaging in other devious behaviors, but the song never really addresses any of Rick’s controversial shenanigans. Perhaps the fact that the song has Rick James’ name in the title was enough humor for the band. Much like Beck, many of the lyrics seem to be stream-of-consciousness ramblings and it’s often hard to figure out whether Cake is trying to be serious or funny.

This is the best-sounding Cake album so far, but that isn’t necessarily saying much. Their first major label release was a re-mixed version of a CD that the band originally released themselves and sold only in record stores in the greater Sacramento area. It was recorded at a small eight-track recording studio called Pus Cavern and "hi-fi" would not be the word I’d use to describe the sound. Each album has improved sonically and now Cake is using more studio production tricks (samples, drum-programming, etc.) to round out their songs. Comfort Eagle was produced and mixed by a variety of different people. It is surprisingly consistent throughout all 12 tracks, but it isn’t a sonic knockout.

Comfort Eagle isn’t the best Cake album by any means, but I had high hopes for it and was not at all disappointed. If you don’t really know the band but think you’d like to get into them, I recommend that you don’t start with Comfort Eagle. I think the album is great, but it’s not the best entree to Cake’s music and could quite easily go over people’s heads. You’d probably be best served by going back to the beginning and listening to Cake’s albums in chronological order of release. It goes without saying that if you are already a fan of the band, you’ll want to pick up Comfort Eagle right away.