The Sea and Cake

After the demise of the much-lauded, scattershot art rock of Shrimp Boat, Eric Claridge and Sam Prekop grabbed Archer Prewitt from the Coctails to curtail the louder aspects of their former band and began working as The Sea and Cake. Their mellow minor chords were given free reign over the vague R&B implied by their elastic rhythm section. Prekop's vocals border on scatting, delivering breathy, soulful passages that heave and sigh with ease. Where they could have settled to make breezy, light pop they instead forged their own path, as capable with instrumentals as they were with jazzy experiments, owing much to John McEntire's fluid drumming. The band hit full stride with '95's The Biz which remains the perfect example of their gradually addictive sound.