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Originally Posted by AllHandsOnTheBigOne
Eh, I don't know. I haven't heard a WHOLE lot from them or Tortoise, but what I have heard sounds almost borderline...easy listening? Smooth jazz? Something about both bands just turned me off. But maybe I'll give them a second chance.
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The Sea & Cake are kind of the indie rock equivalent of Steely Dan. Ultra mellow rock with witty sarcastic lyrics belying the lull it seems to be about on the surface. Maybe it's just my generation, but The Sea & Cake pull this off much more successfully than Steely Dan ever did, but the older classic/soft rock band filled the same niche for the boomers.
Tortoise, despite shared members in the lineage are an entirely different creature. While The Sea & Cake are all about vocal songs at relatively normal lengths, Tortoise is definitely much more removed from the typical rock format. They are easy to listen to, but hardly muzak with the complexity of what they are up to, and while they have plenty of jazz influences, I don't think the David Sanborn variety of "smooth jazz" are on the list.
Check out the first All Tomorrow's Parties cd which has both groups on it, including a track by Tortoise that would scare the living hell out of any smooth jazz fans who might somehow hear it (which seems completely unlikely to begin with.)