In Ear Park, the second effort from Brooklyn duo Department of Eagles, is everything you could hope from a sophomore album: it’s dense, engaging, and (most importantly) an improvement upon band’s earlier work. Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus, two former roommates at NYU, have sanded down the "indie-electronic" edges of The Whitey on the Moon UK LP (re-released in the U.S. as The Cold Nose) into the more serious progressive folk sound of Rossen’s other well-known project, Grizzly Bear.
Take one look at the production credits and the results seem inevitable – Chris Bear and Chris Taylor, two other members from Grizzly Bear, helped construct the LP. Standouts like “Phantom Other” and “Around the Bay” have the same lo-fi yet lush production that made Yellow House so memorable, not to mention fantastic songwriting. (Nicolaus’ “Teenagers” also shines on the album, typified by an infectious, treble-ridden guitar part in the chorus.)
Despite the aural similarities however, distinctions between In Ear Park and Yellow House still persist. The collaborative nature of the album is clear (both Nicolaus and Rossen share songwriting credits on every song), but the group harmonizing so prevalent in Grizzly Bear’s music is largely absent. It’s no surprise then that the band garners comparisons to the solo work of Paul McCartney and Van Dyke Parks (with a hint of Phil Spector) as opposed to like-minded groups (Beirut, anyone?).
Likewise, The New York Times reports that In Ear Park consists of songs that Rossen either found “too personal” to bring to Grizzly Bear, ideas that the band wasn’t interested in, or numbers written by Nicolaus. For instance, “In Ear Park” is about walks that Rossen used to take with his now-deceased father (to whom the album is dedicated) in a Los Angeles Park. “It was a way to put memories down on record in a way that I couldn’t forget them,” says Rossen, a good enough reason to keep these songs within a smaller collaborative circle.
Conveniently, you’re unlikely to forget these songs soon either. Find yourself a copy—In Ear Park is a gem.
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