My 15 (+1) Favorite Songs of 2009: 2. The Sea and Cake, “On a Letter” (2008).

Jan 09 2010

2. The Sea and Cake, “On a Letter”

- From the 2008 album Car Alarm (Amazon mp3 link).
- Official website.

I’ve loved the band The Sea and Cake for a long time now, but don’t ask me which of their albums I like the best. They’re a bit of a blur, quite frankly, and not because I haven’t listened to them carefully. It doesn’t help that their words have never made very much sense – all chosen, I think, simply for how they sound and what they evoke, and Sam Prekop’s slurred vocals have always hovered, barely intelligibly, only just a tiny bit over the mix.

So why all this affection? The adjective “tight” in indie rock is usually reserved for music on the faster, chord change-filled range of the spectrum (think Battles, or Don Caballero), and not for music that, for lack of a better word, more or less swings. Car Alarm is the sound of a sleek and efficient ensemble tightly but effortlessly coloring within the lines.

Okay, all this sounds like I’m dealing out backhanded compliments; words like “sleek and efficient” sound like a liability, and make it seem like I’m describing late-period Steely Dan or something. I think it’s indicative of the paradox within their music: the Sea and Cake seem to exemplify both a breezy offhandedness (Prekop’s breathy vocals) and a marvelous, controlled precision.

The Sea and Cake doesn’t exhibit the brawnier athleticism of drummer John McEntire’s other band, Tortoise; instead, it’s a calculated, subdued grace. You can hear it in “On a Letter”, a particularly fine work of musical craftsmanship: the instruments in gentle lockstep, the guitar tentatively teasing out lines to introduce the main theme, one last minimal guitar filigree a minute before the end, and then it’s gone.

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The rest of the list so far:

3. Pinback, “Loro” (2008)
4. Quantic and His Combo Bárbaro, “Linda Morena” (2009)
5. Passion Pit, “Folds in Your Hands” (2009)
6. Ximena Sariñana, “Vidas Paralelas” (2008)
7. Thomas Tantrum, “Work It” (2008)
8. The Zombies, “I Want Her She Wants Me” (1968)
9. Ben Kweller, “Old Hat” (2009)
10. Ida Maria, “Oh My God” (2007)
11. Anna Fermin’s Trigger Gospel, “How Do You Judge Me” (2003)
12. The Phenomenal Handclap Band, “15 to 20″ (2009)
13. Speech Debelle, “The Key” (2009)
14. ComaR, “I Want You D.A.N.C.E.” (2008)
15. Michael Jackson, “Happy” (1973)
16. Wonder Girls, “Nobody” (2008)