It seems appropriate that Cake have announced a new album just as “Short Skirt, Long Jacket” makes a comeback thanks to the new iPod Nano.  Cake hasn’t released an album since 2004’s Pressure Chief which makes you wonder what took so long.  The funky quintet took two and a half years to write, record, and engineer their new album, entitled Showroom of Compassion.  The band wanted to record the album themselves without being dependent on the California power grid, so they installed solar panels on their studio space and made the album on 100% solar energy.  That’s not all.  The new album will be released on Cake’s own label Upbeat Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group’s Independent Label Group.  Kind of explains that six year gap, huh?

Showroom of Compassion already seems different than the rest of Cake’s material.  Their single “Sick of You” has everything you love about Cake – blazing brass, deep bass, and funky guitar riffs.  Singer John McCrea explained the origins of the song to SPIN.  “It’s about how when you hate things, the circle of hate starts rather broadly,” McCrea said.  “You hate the President or a big movie star, someone you’ll probably never meet. Gradually though, the circle tightens and the objects of hate get closer and closer to the hater. Now it’s your uncle or your mother, now it’s your close friend, and finally it’s you. Bummer.”  You can stream “Sick of You” on SPIN’s website.  Showroom of Compassion comes out January 11, 2010.  Fans can pre-order the album through Cake’s webstore.  If you need a Cake fix right now, take a listen to their cover of “War Pigs” from their 2007 collection B-Sides and Rarities below.