Keeping Thieves Away

For a band with such laid back songs and general attitudes, one would've expected The Sea and Cake to have thrown in the towel years ago. Their biggest lag time between albums has been 4 years (2003's "One Bedroom" to 2007's "Everybody"), and during that period I had pretty much forgotten about the band myself. I actually assumed all the members of the band went their separate ways. Turns out they took some time out to settle down, get married and start families. Again though, domestication has often gotten the best of bands because they want to spend time with their kids and such. With the 1-2 punch of last year's "Everyone" and now "Car Alarm" this year, The Sea and Cake haven't been this productive since their first three albums back in the mid-90s. Who knows? Maybe they're looking to pull in as much cash as they can to pay for some college educations down the road. Whatever the reason, a new Sea and Cake album is typically welcome.

Seeing how it's been around 18 months since "Everybody" was released, I was curious to hear why they felt the need to record another record so quickly. Granted, "Everybody" was probably the band's weakest effort to date, in a long history of making excellent records. And to call it only slightly weaker than the 6 albums that preceeded it pretty much means that record was still quite good. What was lacking on "Everybody" was an energy and a purpose for the band, who sounded like they were merely going through the motions because it had been so long since their last effort and were obligated to put something out. The difference in the band that "Car Alarm" brings is a return to better form. The songs fly by and feel completely fresh- like the sleeping giant has been woken. Let's say that last record was to shake off the rust, while this one is about The Sea and Cake recapturing what had been lost.

If you've heard a Sea and Cake album before, you've virtually heard every Sea and Cake album. Their sound doesn't vary that much from album to album, but they don't need to make many adjustments as their sound is pretty distinctive. Think of them as a relaxed jam band who write short pop songs with an experimental and electronic bent. It's good stuff for a quiet summer day or wandering around outside in the fall. What's consistently impressive about The Sea and Cake is how well they work with one another to create amazingly balanced songs. Sam Prekop may appear to be the ringleader of this band, as he does the vocals and half the guitar parts, but drummer John McEntire is their real secret weapon- setting the pace for every song and doing dramatic rhythmic interplay with bassist Eric Claridge and guitarist Archer Prewitt. All of it comes together in impressive fashion and ties a strong collection of songs together. "Car Alarm" continues in that tradition.

I'm pretty doubtful that The Sea and Cake will ever top themselves and make their best album 15 years into their careers. Their first two albums were groundbreaking in that they helped to establish the track the band would be following up until present day. They remain landmarks for exactly that reason. Given that everything they've done since 1995's "The Biz" has been virtually the same, I don't think they've got plans to change it up before they eventually choose to dissolve the band. And while you might expect the quality to dip over 13 years or at least their sound to go out ot style, "Car Alarm" feels very rooted in the present, as does their very first self-titled effort in 1994. "Timeless" is a word to describe The Sea and Cake, and I'll continue to be with them all the way provided they keep writing and releasing great, relaxed tunes. I was worried the band was going to die a slow and painful death with the small downturn in quality on "Everybody," but "Car Alarm" renews my faith in yet another of Chicago's legendary stable of bands. Keep up the good work, gentlemen.

The Sea and Cake- Car Alarm
The Sea and Cake- Aerial (left click)

Buy "Car Alarm" from Thrill Jockey

Labels: the sea and cake