Music like Department of Eagles

Department of Eagles is an American duo formed in New York in 2000, consisting of Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus.

The band was formed in 2000 by Rossen and Nicolaus, who were friends and New York University (NYU) roommates. They created music from collected samples, assembled into songs and recorded with unlicensed recording software and a microphone borrowed from their neighbor, Chris Taylor, who later became Rossen's bandmate in Grizzly Bear, as well as Department of Eagles' producer and recording engineer.

Initially, Rossen and Nicolaus planned on distributing their dorm room beats-and-samples CD only among friends, but they ended up releasing some of these early tracks on two limited-edition vinyl singles on California-based independent label Isota Records. They recorded additional tracks for these singles and for their debut album with producer Jeff Saltzman, the father of a friend from NYU. Saltzman went on to produce Hot Fuss, the debut CD by The Killers.