Department Of Eagles

As Grizzly Bear continue to plot their next post-Yellow House move, the band's Daniel Rossen has decided to take a breather from his animal-dubbed brethren and once again strike up his old Department of Eagles. But the D of E from a few years back this is not, with Rossen and musical cohort Fred Nicolaus radically making over their little project, and in a good way. Deemed a record "too personal" for Rossen's main band (the album's dedicated to his late father), In Ear Park finds the duo shedding the schizo sound collages of their youth and emerging as a highbrow pop band, pure but hardly simple. Layer upon layer of guitar, horn, piano and a whole lot of ambient noise transform into intricate, exquisitely planned arrangements, sounding part Tin Pan Alley, part art-folk and, yes, even part Grizzly Bear. But Department of Eagles hardly sound like your typical side-project (i.e., a bit weak) and firmly stand on their own two feet. In fact, if In Ear Park has done anything, it's raised the bar that much higher for Grizzly Bear's next effort.