The long awaited “Showroom of Compassion,” the sixth studio album of original material for Cake and their first since 2004, is a recorded confirmation of what many fans have already come to know as true about the eponymous Sacramento band:

Cake is allowed to continue producing their vintage deep friend country funk sound ad nauseum – and they’re allowed to do so because no one else out there sounds like Cake.

Few have even tried, none have succeeded.

However, in unleashing “Showroom” upon the world, Cake has officially hit the bottom of that well, and if they keep dipping into it, they’re going to come up with nothing but a handful of dust and three bucks worth of quarters that some kid wished for a new bike on.

Still, this hasn’t stopped John McCrea and Co. from dishing out a tasty record loaded with vintage Cake flavor, and it’s one that’s sure to delight the long time fans, but would probably fail in winning over any new converts (but something tells us that the latter is very low on their collective list of priorities).

From the opening thumps of “Federal Funding,” a dank ode to grant writers everywhere, a hazy wash looms heavily over the first few tracks, as if someone tried to slow down the pace of “Pressure Chief” by pouring molasses over it and watching it try to wade on through.

“Long Time” is a classic Cake wind-down-the-party at 3 a.m. jam, with those vintage Xan McCurdy guitar riffs that sound like drinking beer and getting in a tan in a lawn chair perched on top of a moving steam engine, and the standard swooning trumpet howls from remaining original member Vince DiFiore; the kind that crawl down from the cliffs of some Baja, California wasteland and sing about what lost souls the guests at Club Med down below are.

This album does have some knife-to-the-side moments where certain songs sound immediately like other Cake offerings. “Mustache Man” is the first amp jumper on the record, but it treads dangerously close on the song “Comfort Eagle,” with a frolicking two-step bass line and John McCrea’s lyrics tumbling over themselves like a hoard of frantic shoppers on Black Friday.

Where “Showroom” establishes its originality is also where the band’s previous two records established theirs – in the use of the electronic effects, spun as usual with creative vigor by DiFiore. It’s something that Cake has played with for years but never settled on one specific theme (and bless them for it). The playful and youthfully exuberant electronics in this record are like the band finding their inner uncorrupted sixth grader who got his first Casio; a counter to “Comfort Eagle’s” high school senior who snuck into the club.

“Sick of You,” the album’s first single, is the point of the record where fans will be happiest that it’s business as usual in Camp Cake. The signature dark and brooding lyrics slither in and out of a jubilant sing-along chorus that, when it’s all said and done, will stand up alongside “Short Skirt, Long Jacket,” “Never There” and “Love You Madly” as classic anthems. (Fans from previous surprise shows at the Blue Lamp over the last couple of years already know this one well).

The instrumental ride of “Teenage Pregnancy” begins with a piano ditty (yep, that’s a real piano this time) that sounds like Hank Williams attempting to play “Moonlight Sonata” in his basement while drunk out of his skull, and follows up with an ominous bass line and finishes like some sort of twisted and demented circus big top line. This is the most “we have not heard this before” moment on “Showroom of Compassion,” and it will take you awhile to figure out what to do with this one (but it should be a fun puzzle to crack).

Another cringer is “Bound Away,” which sounds like the ill-conceived love baby of “Prolonging the Magic’s” “Guitar” and “Mexico,” and finds McCrea name dropping the “Sacramento” name for the second time on record (the other is in “Long Line of Cars”). Yes, that would be same John McCrea who is known to chastise local crowds for narcissistically cheering when he mentions the same town’s name during concerts. Hmmm...

If you aren’t buying this record straight from the band’s website or in a record store (which Cake would clearly prefer that you do), do yourself a favor and get the deluxe version on iTunes, which gives you access to “Huge Misunderstanding.” It’s a doozy!

“Showroom of Compassion” makes for a great spin for Cake fanatics, and offers plenty of hip-grooving fun even for casual fans of the greatest hits, but it also brings up questions about exactly where the band goes from here. You can almost feel the crossroads in this record, of a band that's thumbing back the corner of that "next page" but hasn't quite turned it yet.

The answers will come in time; for now, enjoy the question.

Meanwhile, they’re touring heavily in support of the record. No Sacramento dates on the calendar yet; the closest you're going to get is the four night stand at the Fillmore in San Francisco (one of which is sold out). If any 916 happenings pop up, we'll let you know!