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B A C K S TA G E PASS The Sea and Cake The Gargoyle, March 22 When the Sea and Cake took the stage at the Gargoyle, it was for a young, mostly college-aged crowd. Considering that the band members are—dare it be said—pushing their 40s, the youth of the audience seemed puzzling. At first it seemed like an Autumn-Spring romance, but when the band started playing, the mystery became clear. The Sea and Cake craft songs that, if not hummable, are moody and atmospheric. Multilayered guitars and keyboards, melded with a Yo La Tengo–ish bass and quirky drumbeat, all suffuse to create an esoteric experience. In a nutshell, it’s art rock. The crowd knew and loved their work, and they shouted their pleasure when vocalist Sam Prekop began “Left Side Clouded” from the latest release, One Bedroom. After five years and at least as many CD releases, the Chicago-based band has garnered a devoted following on both sides of the Atlantic as well as Japan. This is appropriate to their style, which sounds more European than American. It’s an audio mimosa—sophisticated, urbanely jazzy but not urban, smooth, and deceptively intoxicating. Guitarist Archer Prewitt, reminiscent of the sincere and intense Ethan Hawke from Dead Poet’s Society, performed with a quiet precision. He and Prekop played foil for each other onstage, faceting the thousand planes of a song with a notch, cut, or glance towards the other. They were clearly enjoying the gig, despite Prekop’s complaint about the frigid air that the Gargoyle provided. (He was not overstating the truth. Those near the stage shivered under an overzealous cooling system.) Drummer John McEntire of the tattooed arms and anarchy T-shirt was the
Sam Prekop (left) and Archer Prewitt front the Sea and Cake. Photo by Laura Hamlett. only band member that actually looked like a rock god. For most of the set he seemed to be in a trance, staring straight ahead while battering an earthly groundline to keep the lighter songs from floating away. Unfortunately, Prekop’s breathy voice added no weight to the diaphanous songs. His Cocteau Twins–type vocals work best when they are considered part of the scenery, merely another layer to the songs and not the driving force which moves them forward. Although this was ostensibly a tour to promote One Bedroom, several of the tunes were from the band’s earlier releases, including The Biz and Oui. One of the set’s best numbers was “An Echo In” (Glass EP), which allowed Prekop and Co. to examine frision of energy and let it build into something almost punk. The band encored with a cover of Bowie’s “Sound + Vision” and “The Argument” (The Fawn), which is as cryptically straight as any of their songs have ever been: “I’m messing with the soul untied/And all it takes you is anywhere.” Leaving the States for another European tour in May, they will acquire new inspirations while they extend their own unique version of post-rock. —Rudy Zapf
lady has a piercing gaze—in person and in performance, she frolics like Friday night. That frolicsome nature took center stage, figuratively and otherwise, in Blueberry Hill’s Duck Room during the release party for the St. Louis singer-songwriter’s second solo CD, Daisies in My Hand. Knoxville artist Leslie Woods and her band opened the evening as smoothly and dangerously as a free flow of Tennessee sipping whiskey. Woods’ smoldering debut, Velvet Sky, appeared last year. Once Woods yielded the stage to Wood—a clause that hints why this magazine’s copyeditor spends most of his free time drinking—the lady behind Daisies in My Hand reprised most of the 12 tracks from that disc, among them the inestimable “Angel” and “Two Feet,” the incandescent “Hey Diddle Diddle,” and the instrumental “Cowboy in a Curl” (enigmatically dubbed “the kitty song” by one of Wood’s young nieces). Interspersed among such original compositions were covers charming in their diversity: Jennifer Warnes’ “I Know a Heartache When I see One,” Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” (in the key of G, by the way), Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” and—hello, chutzpah!—the theme to the Mary Tyler Moore Show. Also featured on the set list were various numbers from Wood’s tenure with local groups like sugarstickygirl: “From the South Side,” “Carrot,” “Hey Hey Hey” (which she characterized as the closest she’s ever come to penning a Monkees ditty).
Mary Alice Wood w/Leslie Woods Blueberry Hill, March 22 A fundamental incongruity applies to Mary Alice Wood: although in most of her press photos, she looks as solemn as Sunday morning—the
Mary Alice Wood shines onstage at Blueberry Hill. Photo by Mickey Bernal.
