Department of Eagles “In Ear Park” Review

It can be a little intimidating to critique an album by a band that has actually named itself after an esoteric form of criticism. The Department of Eagles purportedly take their name from obscure Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers’ “Institutional Critique,” (don’t ask me to explain how or why). Anyway, the band just released its second studio album, In Ear Park, which I will now attempt to critique using the more prosaic critical method of listening to it and then writing about it.

In Ear Park is a veritable musical collage, a patchwork quilt of Freak Folk and Piano Pop, with some Sixties’ Psychedelia stitching and Electronica fringe. Unlike a lot of quilts though, it manages to include a large number of unique elements without being an ugly mess. This is probably mostly due to the fact that of the musical styles the band employs, none is extremely overbearing (for instance there is no Screamcore mixed in with the Folktronica). Instead the band has wisely drawn from an array of sonic sources that compliment, rather than grind against one another.

The album’s self titled first track begins with Spanish-style classical guitar, swiftly turning from stream to strong current where it runs into and surrounds some dreamy piano and vocals. The song slowly comes together into a folky reverie, with a very slight military drum line keeping time. Everything builds to a calm but intense climax, before slipping away back home again quietly from the direction it first came. Those familiar with Rossen’s other project, Grizzly Bear, will recognize the similarity in vocal arrangements: haunting, slightly melancholy melodies that are intricately married into the instrumentation, swelling and shrinking a long with music’s dynamic.

The album’s first single “No One Does it like You,” is also perhaps its poppiest with an extremely catchy baseline paired with a little surf guitar noodling, and vocal harmonies that sound at times like Pet Sounds Era Beach Boys. It is undoubtedly one of my favorite tracks from 2008, but by no means the extent of the album’s draw. Highlights include pretty much every track on the record, including the banjo infused “Balmy Night” as well as the stellar album closer, the sorrowful “What Can be Done.”

Lyrically speaking Rossen comes off as being intensely personal without being overtly so. Instead of interpreting his lines literally, the listener is more compelled to rely on the emotion behind them—generally aching gravitas, punctuated by moments of the sublime. While those moments of bliss generally fall between long periods of austere sobriety, their appearances are a welcome presence. “Herringbone,” for instance, gorgeously builds from manic depressive to uplifting by the time it reaches its’ climactic refrain, reminding me of a number of Beatles’ songs like “Fixing a Hole” or “Eleanor Rigby.”

For all its nuance, In Ear Park isn’t a difficult listen. Whether you are the kind of person who listens to music with $10,000 dollar headphones or you just like something pretty to hear in the background while you are building your 3-D Eiffel Tower puzzle, the album satisfies all comers. It is rare when a band can appease the finicky music analyst as well as your grandmother, but in this case I thing that the Department of Eagles have struck a balance that works for everyone. Does balance equal compromise? In this case I think not.

Department of Eagles “No One Does It Like You” [MP3]

Also: Department of Eagles on Late Night with Conan O’Brien