Representative Albums: "The Sea and Cake," "Nassau," "The Fawn"
Biography
The Sea and Cake is a post-rock supergroup of sorts comprised of luminaries from the Chicago independent scene. The band is led by singer/guitarist Sam Prekop, who, along with bassist Eric Claridge, was an alumnus of the frequently brilliant Shrimp Boat. After that group's dissolution, Prekop and Claridge were offered the opportunity to embark on a new project and hastily recruited ex-Coctails guitarist Archer Prewitt and Tortoise drummer John McEntire before entering the studio. Originally intended as a one-off project, the musicians decided to continue performing together, and after selecting the name the Sea and Cake -- derived from McEntire's misinterpretation of the Gastr del Sol song "The C in Cake" -- they issued their eponymous 1994 debut, an enigmatic collection highlighting Prekop's stream-of-consciousness wordplay and singular fusion of pop, jazz, blue-eyed soul, and Krautrock styles. In 1995, the group returned with two more LPs, the intricate Nassau and the shimmering The Biz. After the release of The Fawn in 1997, the band took a break while both Prewitt and Prekop released solo albums. Finally, in 2000, the Sea and Cake released their fifth album, Oui. The band delivered their most elegant pop yet when One Bedroom appeared in 2003. Everybody followed four years later. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
The Sea and Cake is an indie/rock group with a pronounced jazz influence, which formed in the mid-90s in Chicago, Illinois out of the ashes of renowned local bands The Coctails and Shrimp Boat. The group's name came from a willful reinterpretation (in the wake of an accidental miscomprehension) of "The C in Cake", a song by Gastr del Sol. Along with Shrimp Boat and The Coctails, groups related to The Sea and Cake include Tortoise and Gastr del Sol. Starting with 1997's The Fawn, the group has relied on electronic sound sources, such as drum machines and synthesizers, to color its music, but has retained its distinctive post-jazz combo style. The band has shied away from releasing singles, preferring the album format. Contrary to his multi-instrumentalist role in Tortoise, John McEntire essentially plays only drums in The Sea and Cake.
Members Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt each have released solo albums. The cover art of The Sea And Cake's releases are largely paintings by Eric Claridge and photographs by Prekop. (Postcards of some of the One Bedroom-era photos were sold on the band's 2003 tour.) Prewitt has been involved in publishing his own comic books and doing graphic design.
The band was on hiatus from 2004 to 2007, returning with Everybody. The band's most recent album, Car Alarm, was released in October 2008.
"Window Lights" (b/w "Setup For Bed" (a solo piece by John McEntire), 7" single, 1999, Hefty Records [HEF013], also on Reach the Rock soundtrack, 1999)
