These Cupcakes Are Good, And Good For You

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 26, 2005 6:27PM

Usually when Chicagoist hears of a band reuniting we cringe. It’s a natural defense mechanism and we can’t help it. This is not always the case though as there are some bands that, face it, just never got their due the first time around. Chicago’s Cupcakes is one of those bands.

Had their debut album appeared anytime within the last year these guys would have been huge. They had huge anthemic choruses, songs fraught with drama and a sound that was massive in a Wagnerian sort of way. Frontman Preston Graves’ impressive vocal range launched the songs into the stratosphere and the group became known for their highly stylized live shows filled with winks and nods at stadium rock and/or roll spectacles. They were the thinking man’s Queen.

Much of the group’s original press, though, couldn’t seem to get off the fact that drummer Matt Walker was buddies with Billy Corgan (and c’mon, in the mid-90’s who wasn’t?) and that their debut was produced by Stephen Street. No one seemed to be paying much attention to the actual music. To add insult to injury the album was released on the fledgling Dreamworks music imprint by a bunch of label types that clearly hadn’t a clue. Pile on the fiery individual personalities of the band members themselves and you have a recipe for disaster. The band imploded and that seemed to be that.

Until late last year when rumors started to circulate that the members had been playing together again. Over the years they’ve turned into one of those groups who have a much larger audience interested in their music than they did when they were originally a functioning band. And that brings us to tomorrow night’s show at Double Door. There has been no word on whether the band is actually back together as a functioning full-time unit or if it’s simply a one-off reunion show in order to give old fans a taste of past glories and to reward new fans who were late to the table. While Chicagoist would be happiest with news of more shows from this explosive combo we are content to have this resurrection, no matter how brief it is.