Okay, so this is usually a four pint question.  Maybe three pint if you’ve already exhausted the talk about the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs direction.  But we’ve all been given a chance to weigh it up methodically, comparing merits, strengths and weaknesses, thanks to the musical promiscuity of one Daniel Rossen.  He is both Bear and Eagle, what with him being one of the fabulously harmonised voices in the trendy Grizzly Bear and one half of Fleet Fox endorsed duo Department of Eagles.

(It is here that we must have an aside to speculate about what the Dept of Eagles would do.  Is it a body campaigning for an increase in mice quotients or is it an unpublicised branch of the NYPD?  “Dept of Eagles!  Book ‘em!”, that kind of thing.  We don’t know, therefore we must stop being aside and mingle once more.)

Elsewhere on these pages Tony Vegas has suggested he’s yet to be convinced by the Bear.  However, I’m yet to meet someone in polite society who has said anything like, “’ere, have you heard this here Eagles band, no, not that one, they’re great”.  So it’s zero points each in the first round.  But the Bear is out of his chair first and scores a direct hit with the sing-a-long lumber of “Two Weeks” and the bombastic grandeur of “Fine For Now”, and the Eagle is forced to tread air and hum the title track from its most recent album, “In Ear Park” in order to get its strength back.  A swooping challenge follows, as “Phantom Other”’s detuned acoustic wonder threatens to topple the Bear as he paws at thin air.  As if realising they have more in common than they have in opposition they sit down and share a beer.  But then the Bear, while drifting into a daydream that while enjoyable and fabulously harmonised doesn’t have enough forward direction and purpose, falls prey to a headlock that the more structured and chorus-friendly Eagle exerts upon its helpless prey.  Lesson learnt, the Bear begs for mercy, which the Eagle duly shows and flaps off.  But not before he’s given the Bear a wedgie to confirm his victory.

So, thanks Daniel Rossen, you’ve given us an insight into the animal kingdom that I feel David Attenborough might never have managed.  The Grizzly Bear is dreamy, moody and engaging, while the departmentalised Eagles are moody but direct and focused, all be it in a dreamy way, and so are ultimately the winners.

Question settled.  Now about that new Yeah Yeah Yeahs direction....

Posted In Comment, Jun 02 2009. Words - Martin