Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
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Music: The Clapper [CD-single]
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Amazon.com
A kind of Chicago alt-scene supergroup, the Sea and Cake have never been a band lacking for critical notice. Lead songwriter Sam Prekop and bassist Eric Claridge hail from the brilliant and equally lauded Shrimp Boat, while drummer-producer John McIntire and guitarist Archer Prewitt arrived via Stereolab and the Coctails, respectively. That kind of pedigree guarantees a wealth of pointy-headed accolades. Of course, it's all true--those bands are indeed worthy sources of further musical discovery--but don't let all the name-dropping distract you from the beauty and accessibility of the Sea and Cake's music. Oui is an especially lovely lilt, a smooth, rolling hillside of light pop music, filtered through the band's trademark lens of delicate instrumentation and reveling in giant swaths of melody. "Afternoon Speaker" floats in like a jazzy little dream, all sweet nothings and free-form song structures, while "You Beautiful Bastard" slows down into a crawling cadence, Prekop's breathy tones trickling out of the headphones like ice melting in a spring thaw. If you haven't already, check out the worthy music for which this band's members are also known. Then forget about anything else, whip out this CD, and crank up the headphones. Beauty like this transcends cool hipsterism. --Matthew Cooke