The Postal Service

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Has anybody heard this album yet? It's Dntel with Ben Gibbard from Death Cab For Cutie, the trax i've heard have been spritely, beatific electro-pop, pretty much free of sound manipulation in favour of pure, sacharine songs.

From emo to Erasure?

― nebbesh (nebbesh), Monday, 23 December 2002 01:27 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm very jazzed about this. have not heard it yet though (off to soulseek...)

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 23 December 2002 18:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Saccharine is definitely the operative word. Worse than Magnetic Fields, if it was possible.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Monday, 23 December 2002 20:32 (twenty-three years ago)

I really despised it on first blush, but nonetheless I've felt compelled to listen to it every day for the past three weeks, and it's since grown on me in a big way. Aside for some really unforgivable lyrics ("I kissed you in a style Clark Gable would have admired / I thought it classic" = UGH, "Last week I had the strangest dream where everything was exactly how it seemed / there was never any mystery about who shot John F. Kennedy" = double UGH), there's something really sweet and unspoiled about this record.

I think the thing that has alway saved Death Cab from coming off like bog standard emo to my ears is Gibbard's voice. Yeah, he tends to mire in the mope sometimes, but there's a clarity (I mean sonically, in terms of delivery) to his vocals that gives DCFC an earnest lift. I think that quality works doubly well here, flitting between Tamborello's shamelessly retro blips and bloops - even though he's still on about random breakups and failed relationships, there's something really self-assured and buoyant and effortless and even fun about Postal Service. No attendent baggage, sludge or emotional discharge, just finely sliced songs that ping and zing and ring and sing at all the right moments.

Anyway the duet with Jen Wood ("Nothing Better") is classic, if not for the call and response lyrics then for the part where she starts singing ("I feel I must interject here!") and Tamborello meets it with one of his weirdo backflipped spiralling string samples. Perfect.

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 23 December 2002 20:55 (twenty-three years ago)

I really like it even on first listen. The melodies are terrific. Gibbard's voice is so high in the mix though. I'd like a more muscular/textural music (a la 'The Dream of Evan and Chan'). But these are great songs with great hooks.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 23 December 2002 23:50 (twenty-three years ago)

"Saccharine is definitely the operative word. Worse than Magnetic Fields, if it was possible."

In other words, it's mightily impressive. Love that final Dntel track... can't wait to hear the Postal Service.

― Tim D, Tuesday, 24 December 2002 01:55 (twenty-three years ago)

This album rules. The songs are beautiful!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 24 December 2002 22:10 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes, it is a very good album. Probably the most successful electro-pop album I've heard in ages. Along with "100th Window", "The Ugly Organ" and "Hearts of Oak" (all of which have leaked early...), 2003 is getting off to a good start.

― Simon H., Thursday, 26 December 2002 03:09 (twenty-three years ago)

four months pass...

fans of the record might like to hear this radio appearance on L.A.s KCRW:

needs real player:
http://kcrw.com/cgi-bin/ram_wrap.cgi?/mb/mb030506The_Postal_Service

It sounds a little fuzzier and warmer than the album which somehow makes it even better.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 9 May 2003 17:48 (twenty-three years ago)

it would have been ok if jimmy tamborello was the singer, ben gibbard should be shot dead. also the music is dull, i am thinking david figurine is the one who should be releasing an album every week instead of jimbo. this record is so so inferior to figurine's magnificent 'the heartfelt'.

― keith (keithmcl), Friday, 9 May 2003 22:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I am ready to give this album ("Give Up") the toss. Try as I might, I'm not feeling it.

The version I have is a promo CD (no artwork). Anyone around here want it free of charge?

― don weiner, Thursday, 22 May 2003 12:56 (twenty-three years ago)

It makes me want to punch them. But then I realize that I like the damn songs, so I just punch myself a lot.

― Jeff-PTTL (Jeff), Thursday, 22 May 2003 14:33 (twenty-three years ago)

The version I have is a promo CD (no artwork). Anyone around here want it free of charge?

At least ebay it, ya fool! Just type "P R O M" instead of "promo" and they won't pull it down. The buyers will understand.

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Thursday, 22 May 2003 14:37 (twenty-three years ago)

it's pretty rare that I ebay promo copies without artwork. I'm not really afraid of it getting taken down as much as I just don't find it all that valuable. So I guess what you should have done is taken me up on my offer and...sold it yerself!

― don weiner, Thursday, 22 May 2003 15:41 (twenty-three years ago)

It's good-ish. I prefer Styrofoam.

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 22 May 2003 15:47 (twenty-three years ago)

The video is cool:
http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/postal_service/artist.jhtml

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 22 May 2003 16:39 (twenty-three years ago)

I've wanted to pick this up for ages (this and the Saturday Looks Good To Me record) but alas, I haven't seen it in the record stores around London. Maybe I haven't book looking hard enough.

― marianna, Thursday, 22 May 2003 19:43 (twenty-three years ago)

I got my copy in a suburban London HMV!

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 22 May 2003 20:08 (twenty-three years ago)

"Such Great Heights" is a good track, the rest of it is pretty eh. Download worthy.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Thursday, 22 May 2003 20:15 (twenty-three years ago)

OK, I obviously haven't been looking hard enough, so I've ordered it and the SLGTM album from Rough Trade.

― marianna, Friday, 23 May 2003 08:15 (twenty-three years ago)

It's closest predecessor sonics-wise is "Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson. Not kidding.

― Clarke B., Friday, 23 May 2003 18:55 (twenty-three years ago)

Clarke, elaborate, please. I love "Steppin' Out," always have (and even got dissed by my editor for admitting it in the Wire!). But I don't really hear the connection at all. Not disputing, just looking for some insight...

― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Saturday, 24 May 2003 19:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I think "Steppin' Out" is great, too. It's funny, as of last week, I hadn't heard the song for a long, long time (since I was a little kid), and I had been imagining it as a sort of languid, jazzy slice of MOR for the longest time. I was in a store, though, and the song came on... whoa, where the hell did that fast little beat come from? And that sequencer bass line? This sounds like the Postal Service! Well, okay, the only Postal Service song it really sounds like is "Such Great Heights" (and, to a lesser extent, "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"). I hear both songs as mid-tempo sing-alongs with double-time 4/4 beats racing beneath the otherwise relaxed and loping melodies. Not only that, but the vocal cadences are similar as well: Jackson's "Noooooooooooow" and Gibbard's stretched-out "I" at the beginning of the verses; the way both singers sound like pop-rock guys using lots of emotion and nuance, which clashes interestingly with the seemingly out-of-place but somehow charming toybox beats. I like the Jackson song quite a bit better, but I think it's the melodic line itself that does it for me -- "Steppin' Out"'s melody captivates me more, seems far less tied to the root chord in that very indie-pop way than the Postal Service track.

― Clarke B., Saturday, 24 May 2003 21:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Ok, does anyone else see the resemblance, or am I crazy?

― Clarke B. (stolenbus), Sunday, 25 May 2003 21:30 (twenty-three years ago)

they're both crap so i can see the similarity there.

― keith (keithmcl), Monday, 26 May 2003 01:25 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

Late to the table on this one. Just recently heard "Such Great Heights," which I think it mighty nice.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 17 August 2003 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)

It represents a positive force in rock radio. However, the lyrics to "Such Great Heights" are audio AIDS.

― Jon Williams (ex machina), Sunday, 17 August 2003 17:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm enjoying "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight." Quite a bit, actually. I'm trying to think of who they remind me of (and no, it's not some other poxy quiet Indie band, as that's not really my forte).

My friend Brent just exclaimed: "Ugh, the Dream Academy of the New Millenium". Hahaha.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 17 August 2003 17:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Has anyone else noticed, that in indie circles ben gibbard is pure gold? death cab is pretty mediocre on the whole, postal service has its moments but isnt GREAT, yet every indie kid has 'give up' on their fav records of 2003 list.

cheers to ben
(no disrespect to dntel)

― bill stevens (bscrubbins), Sunday, 17 August 2003 18:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow, someone generalized about indie kids!

― Jon Williams (ex machina), Sunday, 17 August 2003 19:12 (twenty-two years ago)

"Ugh, the Dream Academy of the New Millenium"

Aaaahahahahahahaha!

"The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" = "Life In A Northern Town"?

― Andrew Frye (paul cox), Monday, 18 August 2003 01:31 (twenty-two years ago)

ben gibbard is too much of a prettyboy for me

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Monday, 18 August 2003 01:35 (twenty-two years ago)

?!?!

― M Matos (M Matos), Monday, 18 August 2003 03:00 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

hey JasonD you were right, I do know one of these guys.

people who were hyper about it last week-6 months ago, is it still any good or has the bubblegum lost it's flavor?

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 18:47 (twenty-two years ago)

It's good! My girlfriend likes the melodies and I love the beats!

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 18:58 (twenty-two years ago)

(ok that's an oversimplification but yeah)

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 18:59 (twenty-two years ago)

However, the lyrics to "Such Great Heights" are audio AIDS.

Fucking hell, Jon.

― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 2 September 2003 19:07 (twenty-two years ago)

hey i liked "life in a northern town"

― hector (hector), Wednesday, 3 September 2003 03:33 (twenty-two years ago)

four months pass...

Since I'm all chart-pop crazy I didn't look into this until just now. The 3 songs I downloaded (all mentioned above) are all really weak. I do hear the Stepping Out connection in a way, but overall the beats and instrumentation all sound underdeveloped and the vocals are awful. All shaky and breathy and dorky like OMD or something. Blech. I check out tons of stuff via d/l and this is one of the only times I played the tracks once and promptly hit delete.

― Sean (Sean), Tuesday, 6 January 2004 17:13 (twenty-two years ago)

eleven months pass...

I heard a new track today, "Be Still My Heart" which is very catchy and the production is denser which is exactly what I thought the last record should have been. It's excellent!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Guaranteed Overheard This Christmas Season:
X: What are you doing, still following Phish now that they've broken up?
Y: No, now I'm listening to the Postal Service.
X: Yeah, they're pretty great, aren't they?

Let my personal backlash begin.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

If that's a now commonplace discussion, then the world is a better place.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I guess you're right, now that I see it in the cold light of day.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Four reasons I'm glad I don't live in America:

Phish
David Matthews Band
GWB
Postal Service

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Phish, which is not my favorite Dhish!

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Come on! Postal Service do not belong in that list.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

But, dude, Jimmy and Ben and the way they JAM!

― donut christ (donut), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:12 (twenty-one years ago)

haha!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:34 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, they're not that bad at all. In fact I can tap my foot all the way through "Such Great Heights" without being sick but I'm sure if I did live in the States I'd be VERY sick of them.

― dog latin (dog latin), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Q: So, what kinda music do you like?
A: Oh i dunno, some classic rock, some metal, some punk, some indie rock, some rap, some electronic music...
Q: Electronic music eh? Oh you mean like the Postal Service?

FUCKETH TEH POSTAL SERVICE

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:57 (twenty-one years ago)

http://u-blog.net/melfrid/img/Erwin_Wurm_one_minut_sculpture_1997_1999.jpg

― LSD ARISTOCAT (ex machina), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

How much should I ebay this Figurine CDr for? It has David's remix of "Our Song" (which appeared only on a compilation and one 7 inch), the original "Our Song" from the Motorway release and a David Figurine song "Our Pure Efficiency". There's a note (apparently from David" in the packaging with notes about the March records comp one of the tracks appeared on.

― LSD ARISTOCAT (ex machina), Wednesday, 12 January 2005 23:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Why do noize people hate The Postal Service?

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:18 (twenty-one years ago)

hey now, don't make generalizations

― American Apparel and Jeanne-Claude (deangulberry), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't like the postal service because they never deliver packages!! nor to they leave me notes telling me to pick up packages at post office!!!

― Ian John50n (orion), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:22 (twenty-one years ago)

i still need to hear this... is it as good as yyy-"maps"?

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

― miccio (miccio), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:26 (twenty-one years ago)

gygax which cave do you live in?

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:28 (twenty-one years ago)

1992

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:29 (twenty-one years ago)

There is no reason to be ashamed you haven't heard the Postal Service. HOWARD JONES 2K

― miccio (miccio), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:31 (twenty-one years ago)

gygax tell your story about the college radio days!

― American Apparel and Jeanne-Claude (deangulberry), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:36 (twenty-one years ago)

once upon a time there were days when a college had a radio.

the end.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:39 (twenty-one years ago)

hey now, don't make generalizations

Which noize-erz like them then?!

Postal Service Noize Man Roll Call!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)

computerized clinic, for superior cynics, who dance to a synthetic band

― The Pillars of Anguish, Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)

one of the postal service guys was in a really funny LA band called STRICTLY BALLROOM who had a FANTASTIC drummer (better than the original drummer of Interpol even!) a very long time ago and thankfully time has forgotten them. the end.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 13 January 2005 00:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Postal Service Noize Man Roll Call!

I like them. They're okay. I never actively seek out the album, but I won't switch it when the iPod plays it. But Saetia, that's another story. I can always listen to that.

better than the original drummer of Interpol even!

ROBBLE ROBBLE @ 1996

― American Apparel and Jeanne-Claude (deangulberry), Thursday, 13 January 2005 01:54 (twenty-one years ago)

i'm with dean.

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 13 January 2005 01:56 (twenty-one years ago)

just to be clear: FUCK THE POSTAL SERVICE

― LSD ARISTOCAT (ex machina), Thursday, 13 January 2005 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Gotcha.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 13 January 2005 02:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Roll call:

"Such Great Heights" is OK at least. I haven't heard the album.

"It represents a positive force in rock radio."

-- Jon Williams (x...), August 17th, 2003.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 13 January 2005 02:14 (twenty-one years ago)

ROFFLE

TIM WINS POINTS

― American Apparel and Jeanne-Claude (deangulberry), Thursday, 13 January 2005 02:16 (twenty-one years ago)

R'OFFLE!

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 13 January 2005 02:26 (twenty-one years ago)

ROFFLE HAUS

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 13 January 2005 02:35 (twenty-one years ago)

YOU'RE EITHER WITH US OR AGAINST US, DEAN

― LSD ARISTOCAT (ex machina), Thursday, 13 January 2005 03:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Axis of Tweevil.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 13 January 2005 06:23 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, you're mad about this! ok. i thought you were mad that i posted the picture of you next to the picture of the yellowcard guy you look like.

― American Apparel and Jeanne-Claude (deangulberry), Thursday, 13 January 2005 06:46 (twenty-one years ago)

It's closest predecessor sonics-wise is "Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson

I can see this - for about the first fifteen seconds - then the similarities become less noticeable.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 13 January 2005 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I kind of like that "Dream of Evan and Chan" song that apparently predates this whole Pony Express thing. But, and maybe someone's heard this Death Cab thing and can tell me, is this Ben guy always so obnoxiously twee? I mean, I think most of the time the lyrics are being sentimental about being sentimental. It makes my brain hurt.

― mike h. (mike h.), Thursday, 13 January 2005 16:38 (twenty-one years ago)

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