“Up on the North Shore”
from the album The Moonlight Butterfly
2011
iTunes
It’s kind of amazing to think that Chicago indie legends The Sea and Cake have been churning out their jazzy post-rock for nearly 17 years now, and while the band’s sound has evolved over the years, incorporating elements of electronic music and tropicalia, the quality of the product has been consistently strong. Guitarist/vocalist Sam Prekop, guitarist Archer Prewitt, bassist Eric Claridge, and percussionist John McIntire make up one of the most resilient, formidable quartets in all of indie rock. While the Sea and Cake’s most recent album, 2008’s Car Alarm, leaned toward tightly constructed pop songs, new album The Moonlight Butterfly looks to be a different affair. There are only six songs here, which indicates that these extended cuts feature more experimentation than we’ve seen from the Sea and Cake in a while.