The following was recieved on the evening of December 12th in reference to Cake: Comfort Eagle. What follows is Mr. Ferm's Reply.

Oh, the never ending torment of fans who don't know when their band is through. First though, a few notes on your notes.

1: Sacramento can be reached from Frisco in an hour if you're driving quickly.

2: I know Herb Caen wrote that article "Don't Call It Frisco" but jesus, I can't believe how people have latched on to it. Just for the record, I was raised in the Bay Area before I had the good sense to get out and I was told never to call it that also, but you know what? (And you're going to hate this...) EVERYONE ELSE in the COUNTRY calls it that. Yes. It's true.

3: I don't know why people refuse to believe this, but Sacramento is a really humid place during the summer. Watch a barometer sometime. It doesn't lie. And remember, it's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Now, on to the real issues at hand. As you said, you are a Cake fan. That's fine. The nice thing about this country - and most of the western world - is that you can have an opinion and not have to worry about being shot for it. That does not stop you from being wrong though. As you also pointed out, I was the reviewer which means that I look at the music for what it is and not how some "huge CAKE" fan would look at it. As such, I think I did them a great deal of justice. Not only did I point out that the record had two good songs but that they also had three pretty good albums before this one. Albums, mind you, that I own and enjoy today. Just because I didn't wet myself over the very idea of a new Cake album doesn't mean justice was not done.

As for the parallel to the Grunge movement, it's pretty obvious isn't it? I mean, Cake was Northern California responding. I was there, I saw it, that's what it was. And while, yes, it may be true that Kurt is dead, I for one do not believe the dream died with him. That however, is an aside. Let's close our eyes for a moment and think about another movement, the 60's movement for a second, shall we? I think we can all agree that the movement was well over by 1980 yet the Grateful Dead continued to make music true to their dream. I can't fault them for it, but I also can't say that any of it was any good. Can you? I'd be really interested to hear back on this one.

Okay.... On "Symphony" and "Opera Singer" I'll give you one, though I thought "I Bombed Korea" was weak too. You're right, I don't get it. I still don't get why some burned out rock 'n roller would think to write two songs on subjects as dry and uninteresting as he did when there's sex and drugs. Why? Help me out. Is he slowing down? No. You know what I think? I think he picked up a copy of World Book Encyclopedia (1974 edition) and he keeps it outside the bathroom door. Then, every time he knows that he's going to be in there a while, he picks a letter and reads. It's better than Newsweek because chances are you won't read the same thing twice. "Silly?" you might say. No. No because I once had a roommate that did just that but he had the decency to not write songs on subjects he only knew from his sessions on the throne.

Two more points, then I'll let you go do whatever you do when you're not e-mailing people and telling them that you just don't disagree but that you doubt their abilities as people.

1: There really isn't such a thing as music credentials. Most rock critics were writers who lucked into writing about music. Great job. Good for them. Me, I like music. No, I love it. I listen to it all the time. Fuck'n a. It's good stuff. I don't get paid to write about it, but every so often I luck into getting published.

2: What more research would you have like to have seen done? I own every one of their albums. I listen and I compare, then I compare to the larger scope of things, and, based on that, I grade. I didn't get the rulebook as to what should be said to get the point across and still keep people like you happy.

That's it. I'm done. Said my piece and now I'm going to go to bed. If you reply to this message, I hope you explain one thing that's been bothering me the whole time I've been typing this. What the fuck is with "Khris?" Do you have hippy parents or something? Lost the name book and decided to wing it? I want to know and I hope you'll tell me.

Your pal,

- Colin