Monday Oct 6, 2008 (7:30pm)
While Department of Eagles are led by Grizzly Bear guitarist/singer Dan Rossen, it would do the band a great disservice to drape the "side project" albatross around their necks. In Ear Park, Rossen's second album with fellow Eagle Department-head Fred Niklaus, sticks its nose into Americana's dustiest corners and comes out with catchy, strangely shaped pop gems that recall Van Dyke Parks' faux old-timey-isms, John Fahey's finger-picked symphonies, and even Radiohead at their folksiest. Tonight, Rossen recruits Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor (who produced In Ear Park) and Chris Bear for his "other" group's first live show, at new Gowanus hotspot the Bell House.
– Todd Goldstein