Department of Eagles – Archive 2003-2006 7.7

For those of you obsessed with Grizzly Bear, here’s a good way to get your fix. Mixed with the fully formed songs are equally (and sometimes more) enjoyable sketches. The sketches give some view into the workings of the larger songs. You hear vocals and pianos with varying degrees of fidelity. Serving as both interludes and glue, they help give some structure to the short (30 minute) long album.

Daniel Rossen’s voice first emerges in the great introduction song “Deadly Disclosure”. It sounds so good it might as well be a Grizzly Bear song. Multiple sections come together to create a beautiful picture.

My personal favorite is “Brightest Minds”. Oh, if everything on the album sounded this good, this would’ve easily been my favorite of the year. A nervous energy (in my opinion, the best, most productive kind) permeates your mind. Pop music could learn a lot from this, the smart lyrics, and the peppy tempo. 

Either way, if you’re starved for more Grizzly Bear and the albums he produced for others isn’t enough, you could do far worse than this concise collection.