Customer Reviews

The Whitey On the Moon U.K.

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These guys are great. They put out a couple 7" singles as Whitey on the Moon UK that focused more on their electronic side, but this album has a lot of great rock songwriting on it. Killer stuff - check out "Sailing by Night" for a Beck or Radiohead-type melody - understated and beautiful Also, "Family Romance" would be a great single. There are still a handful of straight electronic tracks that make for an interesting counterpoint here. My favorite is "We Have to Respect Each Other" - hilarious little piece. And then there's "Forty Dollar Rug," which features a fantastic parody of The Streets. Check this album out!

So recently, this album was re-released with a new title "The Cold Nose". Why? Because apprently the title "Whitey On The Moon" was already used before by another band and they wanted to avoid any possible future problems. It has no new tracks, it's perfectly the same album, only with a different name and different cover-art. Still, while older fans may be disappointed that there's nothing new about it, I myself am glad. Before, I hadn't heard of these 'Department Of Eagles' and I couldn't possibly know their music was this good.

About the band, think of a good Indie-band, let's take for example Broken Social Scene, and imagine that DJ Shadow would join the band and make an album together. That is how I would describe this band and that is what this album sounds like, in my opinion. This is a band that is equally good in making catchy fun Indierock-songs as in making stunning Electronica, creating trippy soundscapes on big slowed-down Hiphop-beats.

The thing that makes this even more interesting is that those Indie- and Electronica-elements aren't mixed together. They are both nicely divided in two seperate worlds on its own. So, one moment, you're listening to a catchy exciting Rock-song like "Romeo-Goth", and the other moment you're listening to the fascinating soundscapes of "Gravity's Greatest Victory/Rex Snorted Coke" before the big drums roll in, that even DJ Shadow couldn't do better.

Although I'm comparing this band to Broken Social Scene and DJ Shadow, they have their own sound going on, it doesn't sound as if they are copycatting another artist, even though they have their influences of course, and they're not ashamed to show them. Just one thing: I see that alot of reviewers here hear some Radiohead in this, while I myself, as a big fan of Radiohead, don't hear it. If you like Radiohead, there's quite a big chance you'll like this too I guess, but I can't compare both bands.

Key tracks: "Sailing By Night", "Romeo-Goth", "Rex Snorted Coke", "On Glaze", "Horse Your Ride", "Forty Dollar Rug", "Origin Of Love", "Family Romance". I know that are almost all the songs, but I can't help it, they all represent the album in their own way, I really can't spot any bad tracks.

2006 went off with a smashing start for me.

but it's the best word for it, if you only have to choose one. Imagine if Radiohead wrote a half-instrumental album with such stone-cold beats that you could guarantee they'd be showing up in hip-hop samples for the next 20 years. That just begins to describe this amazing piece of music.

Found this band through Isota and found "The Horse You Ride" to be my favorite track off of Whitey Moon. It hooks you with all of the symphonic, orchestral, kung-fu strings and the lyrics that never fade. If you have Radiohead and The Postal Service in your iPod , then check this band out.

this album took me a little while to get into, but now I believe it to be a first-rate record. it has elements of folk, indie rock, noise and other things, but it is remarkably cohesive. Some of the stuff is sample-based, but the samples never sound like samples or forced, just a part of the songs. Some of the songs sound one whole heck of a lot like radiohead, but I was still enthralled by those songs despite having heard a lot of radiohead over the years.

First point I'd like to make: These fellows are a bit weird. I wouldn't recommend them to some unaffiliated mainstream rock fan who wants to stumble into some new scenes. No, I take it back. Even if you are a pop culture clone you should listen to these guys. They will make you appreciate music on a whole new degree.
The beats are amazing, the melodies sincere, the lyrics laid back. There are nifty, purely instrumental grooves that left me playing the CD over and over again. There are also plenty of tracks to sing a long to, though. Not only that, but there's tons of humor mixed into the songs. We Have To Respect Each other is, indeed, hilarious. Forty Dollar Rug is a just plain random track, featuring a surprising English rap and comments about Etruscan rugs.
Gravity's Greatest Victory/Rex Snorted Coke is an interesting mix-like groove that bursts into a vocal segment towards the end. Sounds a bit like Rex. After snorting coke. It's very poetic, though. Makes you wish you understood a bit more of what he was saying.
Some good vocal tracks are Sailing by Night and Family Romance (soft and beautiful), and Romo-Goth and The Horse you Ride (bit more of a rock-like sound).
Overall there are only two tracks I dislike: The Piano in the Bathtub and Ghost in Summer Clothes. A small price to pay for a CD you'll listen to for years on end.