The Sea and Cake

This is a sold-out show. People are milling about outside trying to get tickets as I brush my way past security and into the venue. Not bad for a band that hasn't put out an album in four years, not to mention one that's old enough to have a Bar Mitzvah. I guess this is what you call a fan base. Of course, the Sea and Cake are the kind of band you can take your significant other to and call it a romantic evening. Fittingly, the crowd is on the older side, though they always are in Los Angeles -- unless you're seeing Of Montreal and half of Beverly Hills High shows up. I still haven't figured that one out yet.

Without much ado, the band took the stage and started right into "Up On Crutches," side one track one of their excellent new full-length, Everybody. Singer/guitarist Sam Prekop's voice was out of the mix for the first few bars, but when he came on, it was with unexpected force. Gone was much of his studied studio breathiness. He used the live performance as a chance to cut loose a bit, even shouting at times.

But from start to finish, you'd never mistake the Sea and Cake for a charismatic young garage band, though they were dressed quite nicely. Guitarist Archer Prewitt and Prekop both wore sport coats, Prekop toning it down with a polo shirt and Prewitt in a button-down. Both, of course, wore jeans. While the music pushed up tempos and emphasized the group's rhythm section, their stage dynamic and demeanor echoed their more cautionary fashion sensibilities. Prewitt and Prekop's banter was humorous but not exactly forthcoming; the best joke of the few they made was one about getting everyone hyped up with a big opener and then having to tune their guitars. Which they did after every single song.

It's what we came to see, though, and the band's execution of newer tracks (the razor guitars of "Crossing Line" came across particularly well) and older tunes alike was energetic and throbbing in a way the albums are not. "Jacking the Ball," a side one track one if there ever was one, might've been the show's best moment as the band fell into perfect rhythm on a song they've been playing for over a decade. The rhythm section often threatened to steal the show: bassist Eric Claridge and drummer John McEntire (also of Tortoise fame) plucked and pounded their way through the night like two men possessed.

It's always refreshing to see indie rockers on the older side hold their own (see also: The Wrens), and if anything, the music of the Sea and Cake has always seemed mature beyond its years. The show's only dad-rock (disclaimer: I like the new Wilco album) moment came when both Prekop and Prewitt nodded their heads side-to-side while soloing on separate songs, a habit they probably picked up from Jerry Garcia or some other old dude. Hard to say. But there's nothing wrong with enjoying being a musician, and at this point, the Sea and Cake certainly deserve it.