Eagle Seagull

Early 2006 I came across Eagle Seagull (back then there was this ungoogleable asterisk between the separate words), a six-piece band from Nebraska (US). I was sure they were destined for success. But then it grew quiet. Although they got some love from the bloggers it didn’t turn into the success I thought it was going to be. Still, I loved their self-titled debut album to bits and got some friends excited about them. I visited a charming small concert and thought their obscurity was an injustice right up there with third-world debt, AIDs and the ridiculous added costs to a concert ticket in the Netherlands. But then came late 2006 and to my utter surprise I found their album in a giant wall-mart kind of store in Berlin (not even in one of the many hip small semi-second hand record stores) with bonus-tracks! It appeared their cd had become a semi-not quite underground success and was released in Europe on a German Indie-label.

I was thrilled and even more so when they came back to The Netherlands to play another show, which was great. At first I was a bit bummed that they didn’t play all my favorites from their debut (especially ‘Holy’) but then I noticed that all the new songs were fantastic. Every. Single. One.

But what the hell kind of music do they make? I hear you wondering (not really, but I’ll pretend, just play along will you?). They are mostly compared to Arcade Fire which I understand but don’t think is entirely fair. Yes, they do sometimes have their passion and grandeur but they’re also not afraid of an Interpol bass-line ('Heal it/Feel it'), Robert Smithesque vocals, Connor Oberst upsetness ('Your Beauty is a Knife I Put at my Throat'), Jamie Stewarts (of Xiu Xiu) bottled up horribility or Wolf Parade’s akward rhythms. And all this without sounding like copycats and losing their own unique sound.

Their next album is going to be called ‘Year of the How-to Books’ and dammit, this time they’re really going to be huge! Mark my words.

An oldie from the debut: Eagle Seagull – Your Beauty Is A Knife I Put At My Throat (myspace)

Two new songs, both more danceable than earlier songs:

Eagle Seagull – I’m Sorry But I’m Beginning To Hate Your Face (mp3)

Eagle Seagull – You Can’t Call Yourself A Secret (mp3)