The Sea and Cake is a pop/rock group with a pronounced jazz influence, which formed in 1994 in Chicago, Illinois. A bona fide supergroup despite the band not promoting themselves as such, each of The Sea and Cake’s members come from their own celebrated acts: Sam Prekop and Eric Claridge from Shrimp Boat, Archer Prewitt of The Coctails, and John McEntire of Tortoise. The group's name came from a willful reinterpretation (in the wake of an accidental miscomprehension) of The C in Cake, a song by Gastr del Sol. Starting with 1997's The Fawn , the group has relied on electronic sound sources, such as drum machines and synthesizers, to color its music, but has retained its distinctive post-jazz combo style. The band has shied away from releasing singles, preferring the album format. Contrary to his multi-instrumentalist role in Tortoise, John McEntire essentially plays only drums in The Sea and Cake.

Members Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt each have released solo albums. The cover art of The Sea And Cake's releases are largely paintings by Claridge and photographs by Prekop. (Postcards of some of the One Bedroom-era photos were sold on the band's 2003 tour.) Prewitt has been involved in publishing his own comic books and doing graphic design.

The band was on hiatus from 2004 to 2007, as Prekop and Prewitt each released further solo albums with accompanying tours, and focused on their visual art pursuits. Their most recent album Any Day was released in May 2018, with the band now performing as a trio (sans-bassist Eric Claridge). They have remained relatively quiet since then, aside from Sam Prekop releasing several long-form electronic music projects, often in collaboration with fellow bandmember John McEntire.