Cake

Rock ’n’ roll may have ejaculated its way out of teenage rebellion in the ’50s, but as it evolved, it became the best method for geeky guys to level the playing field with jocks, as far as getting chicks to be diggin’ on ’em goes. On this, the first single from Comfort Eagle, Cake’s forthcoming debut on über-major label Columbia, singer/songwriter John McCrea gets to strut his dispassionate Peter Gibbons meets Joe Friday persona over a Meters-style bass-string riff that kicks into a “Sweet Jane” chord progression, then back into “Look-Ka Py Py” mode. It’ll probably get McCrea laid, possibly more than once, perhaps even by an ingénue with a massive trust fund and tastes to match. Listening to this laundry list of attributes for a McCrea dream date, it isn’t hard to conjure the video for the Robert Palmer hit “Addicted to Love,” the one with the sneering fashion-model backup band. But is it a hit?