If meaning is in what is heard, then what is to be said about what is not heard? For an answer to this and other theoretical musical questions look no further than Sam Prekop, frontman/songwriter for indie jazz-rock darlings the Sea and Cake. The Chicago-bred artist has just unleashed his self-titled solo debut, and though its sounds are languid and subtle, the record speaks volumes to the attentive ear.

"When I'm working on the Sea and Cake, I'm making sound all the time," the Chicago-bred artist says by way of explanation. "So when I take a break, I just don't want to hear any sounds."

The economy that Prekop sought during his downtime is reflected here. Even with layers of acoustic bass, whispery drums, piano, organ, timid vocals, coronet and strings, the record -- made during a two-year hiatus from his band -- is as expressive as it is inscrutable, as suffused with meaning as it is spartan in style.

But leave it to the soft-spoken singer to attribute his success to others. "I mean, technically, it's not a solo record," Prekop confesses, adding that fellow Sea and Cake guitarist Archer Prewitt is all over the album, as is multi-instrumentalist/producer Jim O'Rourke of Gastr del Sol. "I was doing more sort of experimental stuff and less traditionally song-oriented stuff during the Sea and Cake's off-time, and I just sort of got bored with that. Jim was the first person I asked [to work] with me. As soon as he agreed, I abandoned my initial concepts of the record. That sort of opened up a whole bunch of other stuff. Then I started writing on the guitar."

Whereas much of the Sea and Cake canon revolves around free-form jazz and pop, increasingly bolstered by computers, Prekop's solo effort -- though undeniably similar to the Sea and Cake's sound -- returns to more natural instrumentation, like guitar, bass and drums, as well as strings and sundry percussion. "I consider this new record like a continuum of what I'm doing with the Sea and Cake, but in some ways I think it's a response to [1997's] The Fawn ... not super-deliberately, [but] I needed to be as organic as possible."p>
Although the pendulum may be swinging towards less contrived sounds, Sam Prekop offers little by way of structure. With the exception of the last track, "So Shy," there's little in the way of melodic sing-alongs like The Fawn's "Sporting Life" or "Jacking the Ball" off the band's self-titled '94 debut.

"It's not like I had to do something entirely different than the Sea and Cake," Prekop explains. "That wasn't the reason behind this. But because this is done with other people, of course it's different. I still consider them a part of a certain lineage from record to record, and this is still somewhat in that realm."

HEIDI SHERMAN
(February 12, 1999)