Indie supergroup refines sound

By Daniel Giordano, Reporter
Sept. 14, 2007

Forget Broken Social Scene and The New Pornographers. The Sea and Cake did the indie rock supergroup thing before it was cool, and it still does it better.

The band, which is known for its sunny brand of indie rock with experimental undercurrents, is named after a misinterpretation of the Gastr del Sol song "The C in Cake" and is touring behind its newest release, Everybody, out on Thrill Jockey Records.

The Sea and Cake is a who's who of well-known musicians from the Chicago underground. Sam Prekop, a former member of pioneering post-rock group Shrimp Boat, founded the band and acts as its vocalist and guitarist. Guitarist Archer Prewitt played in The Coctails, founded in Kansas City in the late '80s. Percussionist John McEntire still performs with Tortoise and has worked with countless acts, including Gastr del Sol, Stereolab and The Red Krayola. Eric Claridge rounds out the quartet on bass.

Prekop envisioned Everybody as a straight-forward, live-sounding record, in contrast with the rest of the band's discography, which frequently relies electronic elements added after recording.

"We tend to react to whatever we did on the previous record," Prekop said. "One Bedroom was definitely a built-in-the-studio type of record. This time we felt like it would be better to have it more together and have a batch of fairly cohesive tunes before we started just to get at that more live, more direct sound."

For the first time in 13 years and seven albums, the band worked with a producer instead of relying on the in-house engineering prowess of McEntire. The members enlisted Brian Paulson, who manned the boards on such masterpieces as Slint's Spiderland and Beck's Odelay.

"I think he's primarily interested in sort of recording the band in a natural state, so he's less post-production oriented and more of a documentary-style producer and recorder," Prekop said.

But this more easily digestible sound still comes with distinctly experimental qualities, albeit more understated, and perfectly embodies the band's aesthetic.

"The way we work involves experimenting all the time and trying to find new ways to make interesting songs," Prekop said. "A lot of the arrangements are kind of wild, with sort of abrupt juxtaposition of parts and stuff like that. It's sort of an underhanded collage technique."

Although its hard-to-describe but instantly recognizable sound has proven truly singular and fairly inimitable, Prekop doesn't deny absorbing other influences in his music.

"I think a lot of other music sort of influences what I'm doing by osmosis without me trying to deal specifically with a certain type of music," Prekop said. "I've been listening to a lot of reggae, so I hope that doesn't get into The Sea and Cake now."

In addition to working with The Sea and Cake, its members have a variety of other creative outlets, musical and otherwise. Prewitt has worked with Marvel Comics and creates an independent comic called "Sof'Boy." And both Prewitt and Prekop have several respectable solo albums under their belts.

"I do a lot of photography stuff, and painting," Prekop said. "But I also do a lot of music stuff that doesn't always come out exactly. I have a whole studio where I work on a lot of electronic stuff."

For those who are bummed by the increasingly cool fall nights, Prekop and the rest of the band will certainly offer a refreshing throwback to the warm days of summer.

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Indie supergroup refines sound

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