Album Review : The Sea And Cake - Car Alarm
- Written by Greg Salter
The Sea and Cake are a band that seem to release a lot of albums. This is their eighth and follows a year and a half from their previous effort, Everybody. It's remarkable then that a band who releases on such a regular basis manages to remain so consistent and this is thankfully still the case with the latest album from the band from Chicago, Car Alarm.
The reason that The Sea and Cake manage to continue their success is simply because they are obviously perfectly comfortable with where they are, where they're going and where they've come from. For those who haven't heard the band before (tut tut) they could best be described as a jazz and indie-pop influenced post-rock band (it was probably easier when all bands were 'Rock' bands, eh?) and Car Alarm has a cheery and almost serenely positive mood throughout. Musically, the guitars and rapid-but-chilled drum beats give a feeling of quiet travel and new beginnings.Tracks such as 'On a Letter' hint at an escape from urban life but to be honest it's always been hard to work out Sam Prekop's lyrics but the great thing about them is that though they seem often unconnected they leave room for interpretation on behalf of the listener; the lyrics are clearly chosen for their musical value first and any meaning is left for others to read into.
Sound-wise Car Alarm is fantastic to listen to. It's production is tight and tracks fit neatly with each other; again helping the feeling of a fluid sound throughout. Electronic and synth beats in tracks such as 'CMS Sequence' and 'Weekend' are brilliantly included and show off Prekop's pHd in music all too nicely. Little touches such as the guitar solo in 'Window Sills' are fantastic as their subtlety demonstrates a delicacy with their work that The Sea and Cake should get more credit for.