Producer Entertainment Group
Pop, 2016
Poundcake is a very meta album, but then again, perhaps drag queen turned pop diva Alaska Thunderfuck is more about targeting this album to the folks that watch RuPaul’s Drag Race religiously. After all, the title refers to the puppet character she strutted out during her tenure on the fifth season, and the songs here are peppered with injokes and references that would sail over the head of people unfamiliar with the show.
Slaytina, for example, name drops practically every more noteworthy queens that have ever graced the show, playfully bringing up the possibility of harvesting the best assets of these queens to create the ultimate queen. And “Slay” is clearly a cheeky jab at the fans of the show constantly going “SLAY!!!” to describe anything and everything that they take a fancy to. However, the whole thing can feel stale at times, especially during Stun, when Gia Gunn shows up to recite the same tired signature lines that she had overused to death in the last two years. The lines of deliberate and unintentional self-parody can be blurred at times on this album, and often, I feel that dear Alaska Thunderfuck is just falling back on her same old shtick – which is a lot like her post-Race tenure, come to think of it, when her lazy reliance on the same old gags and punchlines can outstay its welcome.
However, it is on tracks like The T when she lashes out at the Drag Race fandom that things become much more interesting. In that one, she drags her ex, who revealed on social media that Alaska had spilled the details of the entire second All-Stars season, and even crazy obsessive fans that have no concept of personal boundary and think that they somehow own the queens. With regards to the criticisms she received during that season, she growls that the prize money is not enough for her to sacrifice the relationships she has made outside the show – it’s a game, so relax, crazy people on social media. Of course, the fact that she has prepared the lyrics and planned the video far ahead in advance of the season finale only deepens the impression that the entire show is scripted, but it’s hard to care when the end result is both biting and amusing.
I Invented That is the perfect kiss-my-ass song to stupid fans who keep insisting that their favorites have “invented” styles, catchphrases, and other things that, in truth, have been around for ages. Here, Alaska Thunderfuck arrogantly claims that she is responsible for everything awesome about drag culture, dismissing drag legends because they never appeared on the show and hence are no longer relevant (the typical mindset of RuPaul’s Drag Race fans), and those digs at RuPaul are especially hilarious.
Even Come to Brazil, at the surface a fun Latin-tinged club track that would fit perfectly into a football celebration party, is a cheeky stab at how there are always some people that will show up on the queens’s social media to insist that they, yes, come to Brazil. Race Chaser is her cheeky middle finger to thirsty groupies who make it their life mission to sleep with drag queens that have appeared on the show, with her purring that she’s fine with that, as she has a “race chaser” in every state and life is just great.
The most pleasant surprise, though, is the acapella closing track It Is What It Is, an unexpectedly gorgeous and sweet tune that just repeats that single line “It is what it is!” over and over. I’d like to imagine that this is her parting middle finger to the crazy people on social media who are still at the moment screaming that Alaska has robbed their favorites of the crown.
Musically, this one is mostly full of generic dance beats, but they are all pleasant enough on the ear. The whole album is a mixed bag, ultimately. The novelty of Alaska Thunderfuck’s raunchy humor can wear thin at times, but she still manages to surprise with some particularly naughty and biting track. Poundcake is still definitely worth a listen for those moments when she demonstrates that she still have some tricks up her sleeves.
