Spin Doctors Unveil ‘Face Full of Cake,’ First Album in 12 Years, Plot Album Release Performance at Brooklyn Bowl

Photo Credit: Chris Barron 

At long last, Spin Doctors have returned to announce Face Full of Cake, their first studio album in 12 years. Set to release on April 11 via Capitol Records, the ‘90s alt-rock forerunners’ long-awaited new record is their seventh full-length record to date, and their first since 2013’s If the River was Whiskey. To set out on this revival, the indie-jam quintet has looked back on its roots and revived the hallmarks of their heyday with the finely-tuned perspective of longtime artists, resulting in the rich and exciting sound of preview single “Still A Gorilla.”

“Spin Doctors fans are going to be knocked out by this new record,” frontman Chris Barron shared in a release. “It’s got that vintage Spin Doctors sound of ear candy and denser material that harkens back to Pocket Full Of Kryptonite but with years of experience under our belts.” 

On “Still A Gorilla” longtime fans will be surprised to hear Spin Doctors taking on new tricks as they set out on a new era. The first preview for the band’s new project hits harder than they’ve ever hit before, switching on a fuzz-drenched, bombarding garage rock sound as a vehicle for their trademark tongue-in-cheek lyrics. To revamp their sound and explode into a new collection, the band says they found influence in the boisterous attitude of Robyn’s 2007 alt-pop classic “Konichiwa Bitches.”

“‘Still A Gorilla’ is a heavy-duty track about what it is to be human,” Barron detailed. “[Drummer] Aaron [Comess] had that piece of music around for quite a long time, and whenever he and I sat down to try and write some lyrics to it, it just never quite came together.” Comess inspired Barron’s lyrical slant on the song by referencing Robyn’s iconic track. “Aaron was like, ‘A vibe like this would be cool,’ and the humor of that song gave me the entree into the song, so I just sat down and wrote that in an hour.” 

The broader Face Full of Cake came together just as naturally. After setting out on a new offering in the early days of the pandemic and hopping from space to space as they redefined their sound–including Phish bassist Mike Gordon’s Vermont studio–a series of intimate hangs brought the band to finally set the project to tape at new bassist Jack Day’s Asbury Park, N.J. studio.

““We weren’t really thinking of it as a record,” Comess shared. “We’ve gone through a lot of phases in our 35 years, and sometimes things really gel and sometimes they’re just extremely difficult. When we made this record, we captured a moment where it felt effortless. There’s a really fresh energy in the tracks — a sense of us discovering the songs as we played them.”

Spin Doctors will debut Face Full of Cake with an album release show at Brooklyn, N.Y.’s Brooklyn Bowl. Presale for the show is like now, and general on-sale will begin this Friday, Jan. 24. For tickets and more information on the band’s broader tour itinerary, visit spindoctors.com.

Face Full of Cake is available to pre-order and pre-save now. Watch the official lyric video for “Still A Gorilla” below, and read on for the album’s complete tracklist.

Face Full of Cake – Spin Doctors:

1. Boombox

2. Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven

3. Still A Gorilla

4. The Heart Of The Highway

5. Double Parked

6. I Liked You Better When Your Butt Was Big

7. The Buddha On The Lawn 

8. She Don’t Love Me Anymore (Anymore)

9. I’m The Man (You Got) 

10. While You’re Holding The Moon (Over Me)

11. She Stands Alone

12. When You Got Turmoil In Your Mind