Department of Eagles are Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen and his former NYU roommate Fred Nicolaus. The material gathered here actually pre-dates that well received second album, 2008's In Ear Park. In fact you could see these songs as a dry run for that record. At the time, however, the recordings were considered too disparate in style and shelved. Until now.
If In Ear Park felt like a dreamy afternoon in a sun-dappled glade, then these songs pitch us into the midst of a jungle. It's an unruly affair, each swipe of the machete sending something new, alarming, and thrilling leaping from the undergrowth, be it the unnerving melancholy that permeates 'Deadly Disclosure', or the wild guitar and drum-thrashing of 'Flip'. Often, there is a free-floating quality that recalls the otherworldliness of Mercury Rev – note the ghostly quiver of 'Golden Apple'. Elsewhere, the guitar-ripple and swooning harmonies of 'Brightest Minds' suggests Bon Iver backed by The Beach Boys.
Not surprisingly there are occasional points of comparison with Grizzly Bear. What really shines through, though, is a sense of adventure: these songs are teeming with ideas. Archive 2003 – 2006 is a resounding success.