I spent the beginning of this year combing through various lists of upcoming album releases for 2011, hoping to mark down things which would excite me, in my calendar. Of these exciting things, the first exciting moment would arrive on 1/11/11. For all of us not American, that’s 11/1/11, when CAKEreleased Showroom of Compassion. Don’t ask me how, but 3 weeks ago, I got possession of an early release of the album, and like a secret stash of candy is to a fat man, I’ve been nibbling on the album in bite size portions, hoping that my 21st century A.D.D doesn’t get the best of me and turn me off the excitement and on to something else prematurely. Some of you may know that I am writing this article from India. It has been 7 years since I’ve been back here, and its been 7 years since Cakes previous album Pressure Chief. I find it rather serendipitous and fitting, that I am able to receive the new album in the brief window when I am back in India—the country I was in when I last had a fresh Cake album. Cake fans will be happy in that the band hasn’t compromised their original sound for anything. The band stays true to themselves, giving us exactly what it was that we loved all 5 albums past. Cake is one of the few bands who because I dig and respect, will not just give their music a 3 time listen, or even a brief listening period of a few months. Albums such as Motorcade of Generosity, Fashion Nugget and Comfort Eagle have been a Ganta family staple since the days of our cross country road trips in Oman. I really wish I was with my siblings right now, because I know all to well that songs such as “Federal Funding”, “Long Time” and “Mustache Man” would instantly become new numbers in our road trip hymnal. There are very few bands which allow us to sing along in partially-discordant-belting-on-the-top-of-our-lungs unison, and Cake is definitely one of them. I won’t splice apart individual songs, because even after listening to Showroom for 3 weeks, I know that melodies, riffs and John McCrea’s brilliant singing/songwriting still has more to show me in its simple ways. Cake is one of the few honest, consistent bands of our time, and people can only come to this opinion once Cake, and their every sound and lyric is made family. This is not an article promoting Showroom of Compassion, rather this is an article through which I can brag about some of the goodness brought into my life by Cake the band. Friends, if you want something consistent, in what you see as your A.D.D life of shifting sands (with music and everything else), accept Cake into your life if you haven’t already. Just ask any Cake fan who has sung “Stickshifts and Safetybelts” with another, top-lung in a car…. There are few bonding moments that can compare.