For fans of Grizzly Bear, I'm pretty sure you'll also love Department of Eagles. Mostly because Grizzly Bear is the Department of Eagles. Sort of, anyway. Add a member, and subtract another, and give member Daniel Rossen along with Fred Nicolaus the bulk of the songwriting duties. It's got all the earthiness you'd expect in the record, but with a somewhat more light-hearted mood, which is somewhat unexpected considering the dedication of the album to Rossen's late father who passed in 2007. Ear Park is the nickname of a park in LA where he and his father visited.
"At its best points, of which there are a fair few, this album (and this band) produces a sound that is quite magical. Backing vocals and effects produce a sound close to that of an angel choir on opener ‘In Ear Park’, a moving tribute to Rossen’s deceased father. Lush shimmering choral sounds build to dramatic crescendos with a sense of wonder that reminded me, bizarrely, of the backing music found on some of the earlier Walt Disney cartoons (Sleeping Beauty, say) - see in particular ‘No One Does It’, ‘Phantom Other’ and ‘Waves of Rye’. Similarly, the gorgeous, full sounding “oohs” on ‘Floating on the Lehigh’ lend the song a soaring quality a bit like a singularly rich croon-y 1950s show tune. The 1960s can also be heard (in a kind of Motown-esque way) in the intro to ‘No One Does It’. Add into the mix some echoes of 10cc’s ‘I’m Not In Love’, to be heard in ‘In Ear Park’ and that overused reviewer’s description - eclectic - would seem to be justified."
Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You (mp3)
Department of Eagles - In Ear Park (mp3)
Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You (Live on Conan)
Department of Eagles - La Blogotheque (video)
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