The Sea and Cake is the name of an album, an artist, and also derived from a song “The C in Cake.” I’m not familiar with the song other than it being from an avant-garde indie band out of Chicago. If you asked me a couple weeks ago, I’d know nothing of all three. The album I never heard until I came across the entire thing streaming online. The Sea and Cake play a jazzy type of alternative music, maybe even turning into indie funk at times with a not-so-funky vocal thrown in. They give off a Yo La Tengo vibe, but they have a distinctive style that may fly well with curious ears. The oh so majestic Last.fm offers you listening powers to this album with handy streaming media. Start “Jackin the Ball” now.

The cool thing about this is that is stems all the way from 1995. That’s over a decade behind us and it still suits the sound that is around today. Ahead of their time is what I say, however cliche.

Listen to all 10 songs.