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I’ve always had mixed feelings about the Sea and Cake. While most folks were praising the pop genius of leader Sam Prekop I always thought him inconsistent, with dangerous leanings toward the worst 70s soft rock pap. While the latter tendency seems to have gone away (appropriated by Vampire Weekend, perhaps), the inconsistency remains on the EP The Moonlight Butterfly. There are some very good pop tunes here, particularly the irresistible, mildly psychedelic opener “Covers,” the brilliant crafted “Monday” and the gorgeous, swoon-inducing “Up on the North Shore.” But those are balanced by “Inn Keeping,” which could have been a delightful three-minute wonder but is instead stretched beyond endurance to almost eleven minutes, and the inexplicable, annoying synth doodle that is the title track. But Prekop wouldn’t be the first artist who needed to balance craft with craziness – if irritating electronic bleepathons must exist so that excellent pop songsmithery can prosper, it’s a fair tradeoff, at least on The Moonlight Butterfly.
