the Sea and Cake

{{Short description|Chicago post-rock band}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{More footnotes needed|date=May 2018}}

{{More citations needed|date=May 2018}}}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = The Sea and Cake

| image = Image The sea and cake.jpg

| caption = The Sea and Cake at Webster Hall in 2007. From left: Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt and John McEntire.

| background = group_or_band

| alias =

| origin = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| instrument =

| genre = {{hlist|Indie rock|post-rock|jazz rock|ambient pop}}

| occupation =

| years_active = 1994–2004
2007–present

| label = Thrill Jockey, Hefty

| associated_acts = The Coctails
Shrimp Boat
Gastr del Sol
Tortoise

| website = [http://www.theseaandcake.com/ www.theseaandcake.com]

| current_members = Sam Prekop
Archer Prewitt
John McEntire

| past_members = Eric Claridge

}}

File:The Sea and Cake - Primavera 2013.jpg 2013. From left: Sam Prekop, John McEntire, Archer Prewitt, Doug McCombs (who filled in for Eric Claridge).]]

The Sea and Cake is an American indie rock band based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.{{cite web|work=LA Weekly|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2012-11-08/calendar/the-sea-cake-matt-friedberger/|title=The Sea & Cake, Matt Friedberger|first=John|last=Payne|date=November 8, 2012}}

As part of the Chicago school of post-rock, the group formed in the mid-1990s from members of The Coctails (Archer Prewitt), Shrimp Boat (Sam Prekop and Eric Claridge), and Tortoise (John McEntire); the group's name came from a willful reinterpretation of "The C in Cake", a song by Gastr del Sol, which McEntire was previously a member of. Starting with 1997's The Fawn, the group has relied on electronic instrumentation such as drum machines and synthesizers to color its music, but has retained its distinctive style with marked influences from jazz, samba and bossa nova. Contrary to his multi-instrumentalist role in Tortoise, John McEntire almost exclusively plays drums in The Sea and Cake.

Members Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt, and John McEntire have each released solo albums. The cover art of The Sea and Cake's releases are largely paintings by member Eric Claridge and photographs by Prekop. Prewitt has been involved in publishing his own comic books and doing graphic design.

In 1995, the band contributed the song "The Fontana" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Bothered produced by the Red Hot Organization. The band was on hiatus from 2004 to 2007. Their most recent album Any Day was released in May 2018.{{cite web|last1=Berman|first1=Stuart|title=The Sea and Cake: Any Day (review)|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-sea-and-cake-any-day/|publisher=Pitchfork|access-date=21 May 2018|date=May 12, 2018}}