Department of Eagles: In Ear Park

Label: 4AD

Who knew? Once considered nothing more than a Grizzly Bear side project, Department of Eagles prove they are a great band in their own right with the wondrous In Ear Park. Led by Daniel Rossen of Grizzly Bear and helped enormously by the band’s other members in the studio, the band delivers the same dreamy avant pop of Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House and Friends, with baroque arrangements, stirring hooks and beautiful harmonies, resulting in one of the year’s finest pop albums. The band, formed by Rossen and Fred Nicolaus in 2000 when they were NYU students, has honed its sound from its previous effort, 2003’s sprawling but entertaining The Cold Nose. Now joined by several Grizzly Bear members, Department of Eagles have a released a touching and elegiac record (Rossen made the album in tribute to his late father) that never falters. Not a bad cut on the record.