Department Of Eagles
BIOGRAPHY
“Everything happens for a reason” is probably the worst thing that anyone could ever say to you. It’s happened to the best of us – say you’ve just lost your job, or burnt another slice of toast and somehow, just somehow some smug b*stard is stood there behind you shaking their heads sagely with this know-it-all grin on their face as they pat you on the back and say “don’t worry, que sera, sera…these things happen for a reason”. Really? I mean, so what possible ‘bigger plan’ is my cat getting turned into roadside ravioli a part of? Was that guy on the A12 simultaneously picking his nose and changing the radio station part of some master plan? Jeez.
That said, sometimes people are huge hypocrites, and sometimes things really do just happen for a very good reason. Take for example the case of Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus. In 2000, the two inconspicuous young men - one with the early signs of male pattern balding and an unusually mature warble of a singing voice – were assigned to shared accommodation while attending New York University. To pass the time over the boring Spring semester, the pair began making music together, collecting samples and turning them into songs using pirated software and a microphone borrowed from their neighbor Chris Taylor. This same Mr. Taylor would later become Daniel’s bandmate in 2004 when he joined the group Grizzly Bear as a singer, guitarist and songwriter – writing a good part of their sophomore album Yellow House.
Rossen and Nicolaus’ first “album” was a number of drum-machine driven songs that was picked up by a small record company in California, who decided to release a couple of 7” singles to relatively little response. DoE took a bit of a back seat as Rossen’s Grizzly Bear touring responsibilities grew exponentially with the band’s popularity, until 2005 when a British label re-released their debut album in Europe under a different title, and the group began working on new material. This time around, the music featured little-to-no electronic embellishments, clearly influenced by Rossen dipping his toe in orchestral with Grizzly Bear. On October 7, 2008 they released their follow-up, In Ear Park, on 4AD.
Rhythmically plucked guitars, overdubbed choral vocals…sure the Grizzly Bear similarities are inevitably audibly evident DoE transmogrify more disparate musical elements; female choirs, tribal chants, doo wop backing vocals and sultry trip-hop into something a bit less direct and definitely less “Band”. As groups go, the musical pair certainly have interesting familial roots – much of In Ear Park is written about Rossen’s childhood memories, particularly those relating to his Dad who died in 2007 – his dad (Daniel’s grandfather), Robert Rossen, directed the critically acclaimed movies All the Kings Men and The Hustler, while Fred’s father Martin Nicolaus, wrote the definitive translation of Karl Marx’s Gundrisse. Oh, and they have song titled ‘Noam Chomsky Spring Break 2002. Which is ace as heck. Obvs.
In January 2006 the band got together to begin recording their sophomore album in a month long session, although “The January Sessions” were deemed a failure by the band, they make up a large part of their upcoming release ARCHIVE 2003 – 2006, a collection of B sides and early recordings, as well as a good lump of the aforementioned sessions. The album is out on Rockfeedback fave Bella Union (Beach House, Lawrence Arabia, Wavves), so you should probably go buy it or something.
TOUR DATES
The band have no plans to tour at the moment, but Grizzly Bear will be hitting the UK like a wet flannel for Latitude festival on the 18th of July before a couple of dates in Australia and the US, so toes crossed there might be some Departmental Eagles winging their way round the world in the autumn.
LINKS
www.departmentofeagles.com
Department of Eagles Myspace
Department of Eagles Last.FM page
Department of Eagles on Bella Union
VIDEOS
Department of Eagles - In Ear Park (DUMBO Session)
Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You (Live)
Department of Eagles on La Blogoteque
words and thoughts by Samuel Smith