Personnel: John McCrea (vocals, acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion); Tyler Pope (guitar, keyboards, percussion); Gabriel Nelson, Xan McCurdy (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, drums, background vocals); Chuck Prophet (electric guitar); Vince Di Fiore (melodica, trumpet, keyboards, percussion, background vocals); Todd Roper, Matt McCord, Paulo Baldi (drums).

Audio Mixers: Cake; Mark Needham; Craig Long; Patrick Olguin; Kirt Shearer.

Arranger: Cake.

"Idiosyncratic alternative pop" immediately comes to mind when trying to describe Cake to the uninitiated. On the band's fifth album, PRESSURE CHIEF, John McCrea and company continue down the same creative path with their tried-and-true knapsack of sonic elements--McCrea's deadpan phrasing, sprinklings of trumpet, and off-kilter hooks that manage to work in spite of themselves.

Fueled by its frontman's progressive views on everyday life, this Sacramento quartet takes aim at a depleted ozone layer (the faux-punk-meets-Kraftwerk "Carbon Monoxide"), the intrusiveness of modern technology (a jittery, keyboard-laden "No Phone"), and society's prevailing "get-it-now" sentiments (the loping ""Waiting"). McCrea also tries his hand at legit singing, and he ends up sounding sincere, whether it's on the R.E.M.-like "She'll Hang the Baskets" (featuring guest guitarist Chuck Prophet) or a heartfelt walk through Bread's 1970s nugget "The Guitar Man," adding yet another quirky cover choice to the group's pantheon. Oddball yet endearing, PRESSURE CHIEF furthers Cake's successful pursuit of loose and non-conformist pop music.