Eagle Seagull

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When Eagle Seagull's debut album was released in early 2006 on fledgling label Paper Garden Records, what happened next can only be likened to a buzz of almost Clap Your Hands proportions. Capital reactions in online forums, euphoric reviews in the underground press, listings in various "Best Of 2006" and "Bands to watch 2007" polls - there were too many to name all of them here. In the months that followed, our boys (and girl) from Lincoln, Nebraska progressed from just being a "hip name to drop" to playing packed venues, and the label - although still without a national distributor - had to re-press the debut CD for the umpteenth time. All this hubbub caught the attention of Lado, one of Germany's most successful indie labels (The Gossip, Metric, Tocotronic), and Eagle Seagull's debut was released in Europe in October of 2006 to universal critical acclaim. They even earned themselves a spot on the Austrian Indie Charts at #2 - right behind The Killers.

And all this turmoil - it has to be said - was caused by a band that doesn't even fit into any existing genres - and that is precisely where parallels can be drawn to The Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands. They created a world of their own. And their songs were so chart-hostile that they rarely stayed under the 5-minute mark, preferring to reveal their secrets bit by bit. A sailor's lullaby waltz "Death Could Be at the Door" provides the missing link between the Decemberists and "Disintegration" by The Cure. On the other hand, "Your Beauty Is A Knife I Turn On My Throat" features a Beatles-esque music-hall piano, "Hello, Never" welcomes the lost cousin of Pavement's "Range Life", while the frantic "Photograph" chases The Arcade Fire through a New Order disco at fast forward. Yet this too is just another mass of reference points that merely hint at what Eagle Seagull really sound like. The question of direction has never been crucial for singer/songwriter Eli Mardock or any members of the band in anyway: "We love the songs and love each other. It's great fun and that's our main priority." You wanna bet? We too love the songs and we too love Eagle Seagull.

So, what's next for Eagle Seagull? A new album has just been recorded with producer Ryan Hadlock (The Gossip, Blonde Redhead, Stephen Malkmus etc.), and its release in early 2008 is keenly anticipated. Rumor has it that it will feature several tracks less than 4 minutes long, and this, I believe, won't be the only surprise. Expect the unexpected!