The Sea and Cake Return to the Troubadour Thursday

C in CakeREMINDER
The Sea and Cake w/The Uglysuit @ Troubadour Thu Dec 4

This has been on the calendar for months; just thought I’d remind you. Of the numerous Chicago projects Prekop, Prewitt, McEntire and Claridge find themselves immersed in, The Sea and Cake is still my favorite of the lot. This time ’round they’re supporting their eighth full-length Car Alarm, released October 21 on Thrilljockey. Predictably, I’m fully digging the album. But Jesus! Let John Corbett (!?) tell you about the album if for some fool reason you haven’t dipped your feet into the water yet:

The exciting sound of a well-oiled band. Car Alarm is The Sea and Cake’s eighth full-length record. It is bracing, like the surge of wasabe on sweet sushi, like the slap of cool water on a diving body, like the head-rush of a rollercoaster just leaving summit. Bracing music is most often encountered in concert. Only the heaviest hitters have translated the live thrill into the recording studio. Think of the great working bands, the Charles Mingus Quintet, the John Coltrane Quartet, the Meters or the Minutemen. For them, there was no gaping chasm between the studio and the road; the studio was just another stop, a gig, a continuous part of the flow of playing and working and creating together.

Ok, then. Turn out Thursday for that cool, head-rushing slap of sweet, wasabi-tinged sushi. But wait! I’m equally excited to witness my fellow Oklahomans The Uglysuit open the proceedings. Their self-titled debut album on Quarterstick Records (released August 19) is, well, damn good. It hasn’t left my car. Coherent, melodic, very listenable, ElliottSmithy (yes, I just coined that adjective) piano woven through the proceedings. I’ll be interested to see how this translates live. To recap, solid lineup Thursday. You know what to do. Bonus! For our Pomona brethren, both bands will also be at the Glass House come Friday.

» The Sea and Cake & The Zincs @ Troubadour, 5/19/07 (classic victor)
» The Uglysuit (myspace)