Customer Reviews

Give Up

5 star:		(300)
4 star:		(73)
3 star:		(38)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

I read a review for this album as "...so good that, in a just world, it would stop the war on its own."

Oh, how right that is.

A distinctly modern melange of nü wave, dance, alterna-pop, and synth, I'd best describe Postal Service as "Electro-indie". If you're a child of the 80s like me who grew up with New Order, OMD, Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys, no need to read further--you'll immediately love "Give Up".

In the midst of NYC's current electroclash craze which is so overhyped at times (gosh, just lay down some minimal synths and have some bored models chant vocals), Postal Service is the outstanding contender as the smartest electro band of the year with an album that's so emotional (melody-wise and lyric-wise), so beautiful, and so well-produced that it puts bands like Fischerspooner to shame. Jenny Lewis' angelic, trance-like girlish voice enhances Gibbard's boyish vocals. Catchy, simple-sounding but beautifully complex, every single track---and I mean every single one--is up to par.

notable faves are:

1- "District Sleeps Alone Tonight" - Angelic and soft, gradual fades of breakbeats, staccatos and instrumentals with enchanting melody and lyrics that speed up and slow down. Gorgeous.
4- "Nothing Better" - Electro pop at its finest. This duet is so unbelievably catchy, melancholic yet bubbly, sweetened with a bouncy bass line and perfectly placed tweaks and twiddles.
9- "Brand New Colony" - An emotional track intertwined with the twinkly theme from Super Mario Brothers. Brimming with nostalgia, you can hear the gold coins spinning and ka-chingin' as you make Mario jump.
10- "Natural Anthem" - A fierce, drum 'n bass-influenced track in the style of Aphex and other IDM'ers. The junglist in me loves this. A great way to end this five-star album.

But you'll find your own favorites. Every track was just so satisfyingly good, I nearly cried at the end. You just don't hear people making music like this nowadays.

Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello and Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard knew they were on to something good as soon as they finished collaborating on the track "(This is) the Dream of Evan and Chan." That compelling combination of Tamborello's melodic knob-twiddling and Gibbard's literate vocals and forlorn delivery was the triumph of Dntel's acclaimed 2001 release Life Is Full of Possibilities. Not long after that first collaboration, The Postal Service was born. The relative strangers began recording in December 2001, swapping tracks on CD-Rs through the mail.

Listening to the act's debut brings back the same sort of giddiness inspired in me by New Order's Low Life when I first picked it up a decade-and-a-half ago. The Postal Service expertly channels that adolescent spirit with an awkward blend of dance beats and melodic songwriting. However, the duo has updated the sound for the millennial set, pleasantly mixing Depeche Mode beats and bass lines, Pet Shop Boys melodies and Warp Records-styled twinkling tones and clicks. Orchestral samples and pseudo horns add an unusual flavor to "Clark Gable." Chunky, monophonic Casio-sounding keys tie the vocals to the beat in "Nothing Better."

Two of the album's highlights appear right at the front end of the record. The first song, "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight," leads with brooding organ, before beats saunter in and steadily cruise through the first verse and chorus to a clean, ringing guitar riff. A second chorus pumps even harder and defies you to not sing along. This despite a characteristically bumming realization repeated by Gibbard: "I am finally seeing why I was the one worth leaving" (Christ, Benny, just stick a fork through my heart, why don't you?). Track two, "Such Great Heights," has already been released as a single. The catchy number apes Rod Stewart's "Young Turks," especially the beat and understated arrangement, albeit in an electro fashion.

The remainder of Give Up is solid, though Gibbard's lyrics are less potent by the middle of the record, and Tamborello burrows perhaps a little too deeply into some of the thinner sounds of the cold '80s era that inspires him. "Sleeping In" stumbles a bit with Gibbard's trite invocation of the JFK assassination, but the murmured chorus, "Don't wake me, I plan on sleeping in," that drapes over a quiet acoustic guitar phrase is strong enough to carry the entire song.

Perhaps the only shortcoming of Give Up is that the adherence to pop shuts out some of the more interesting electronic elements explored on Life Is Full of Possibilities. "Natural Anthem" is probably the most adventurous Postal Service tune, utilizing a relatively heavy break-beat, a looping string sample and more aggressive production, but clearly the duo's strengths are geared more toward hit-making than trailblazing. So, while the record isn't necessarily an instant classic, the unabashed embrace of simple pop sensibilities, both old and new, make it a record that is hard to stop listening to.

Jay Breitling
Junkmedia.org Review

The Postal Service had an unusual start. No, not THAT postal service, but the unique band behind one of the best albums of 2003, the indie-electronic "Give Up." Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello exchanged tapes through the mail, sculpting the sweet, melancholy trip-hop masterpiece "Give Up".

It starts off on strong footing with the melancholy, angelic-voiced "District Sleeps Alone Tonight" with its solemn organ opener. The second song is even stronger -- the sparkling, upbeat "Such Great Heights," an adoring love song from a guy to his on-the-road girlfriend. "They will see us waving/from such great heights/come down now!/they'll say/but everything looks perfect from far away..."

With such a great opener, the rest of the album is almost garuanteed to be lackluster. But Gibbard and Tamborello manage to keep the quality up with the delicate "Sleeping In," ethereal "Nothing Better," and the dreamily majestic "Recycled Air" with its backdrop of string-like synth. "Give Up" ends on a slightly darker note with the dark, grittier "This Place is a Prison" and the fast-paced but strange "Brand New Colony," before finishing off with the magnificently cacophonous "Natural Anthem."

"Give Up" was originally recorded in a rather weird way, with Gibbard and Tamborello exchanging packages with recorded CDs inside. Not your typical way of making music, and some might have scoffed at this unorthodox method. But it pays off beautifully -- the melodious poppy sound of Postal Service is absolutely intoxicating. It's a perfect mix of beats, clicks, dreamy synth and sweet vocals. Gibbard's clear voice is a little sad, and contemplative, and is backed up in some songs by Jen Wood and Jenny Lewis.

The lyrics are beautiful, romantic and heartfelt ("I am finally seeing/why I was the one worth leaving..."), often evoking a slightly otherworldly feeling, not tied in with the world as we know it. It brings up dark cities, flying couples, gaudy apartments and places where things are sad and a little dreamy. The keyboard arrangements are shimmering, guitar riffs are steady and solid, and a cluster of other instruments (organ and horn) surface and vanish seamlessly.

"Give Up" both satisfies a musical hunger and leaves you wanting more. Proving that innovation is NOT dead in the music biz, the Postal Service is a fantastic breath of fresh air. Dreamy, a little depressed, but uplifting and sweet.

Now don't get me wrong. Although I'm a big fan of DCFC and All-Time Quarterback. I will never find something to like about an album just because the singer in it has proven to be amazing before. In fact I tend to judge a singer harsher if I love his earlier work.

However having said that, I have to say that this album is incredible. Ben Gibbard's voice soars over electronic heights that are at once both mesmerizing, and totally different from his work with Death Cab For Cutie. Although his voice still has it's characteristic fluctuating highs and lows, and the melody lines are (as always) incredible, the music is much more pop influenced on quite a few tracks, which he carries off perfectly. In fact Jimmy Tamborello (of Dntel and Figurine) creates perfect electronic nuances that Gibbards voice delicately touches as it glides above. Create a perfect combination of the two.

I have to say that lyrically I don't find postal service to be nearly as powerful, and image invoking as Ben's work with Death Cab For Cutie, especially Photo Album. However as Ben says on the sub pop site.

"Some of the songs are very much of a Death Cab mode, but people have been commenting, 'Wow, the lyrics are really different,'" explains Gibbard. "When somebody is just handing you music and you're supposed to sing over the top of it, it feels different than when you're sitting at home with a guitar trying to write a song."

"'the district sleeps alone tonight,' 'brand new colony' and 'this place is a prison' are pretty much the only songs that border on autobiographical," he continues. "But everything else is just kind of daydreaming and coming up with ideas for songs that aren't necessarily based in reality, and I think that was a lot more fun for me to do because I'd never really done that before. It didn't feel right for all the songs to be break-up-type songs - they just felt more like the kind of songs that you would want to dance to and you wouldn't want to have a lyric that's super heavy, especially on 'such great heights.' I think 'such great heights' is the first time I've ever written a positive love song, where it's a song about being in love and how it's rad, rather than having your heart broken."

So although the fun, pop influence is definitely different from the beautiful darkness of much of Photo Album, and We Have The Facts. Songs like "This Place is a Prison" (One of my favorites on the album) are there as well, a beautiful mellow song of great intensity, with a much darker feel to it.

All in all, this album pulls off with great finesse an unlikely, but at the same time totally fitting mix between indie and electronica. Definitely recommended for anyone into DCFC, Grandaddy, Stars, as well as anyone that appreciates good music, or wants to get into something new.

Notable Tracks:

This Place is a Prison
Such Great Heights
We Will Become Silhouettes

Existing somewhere between the musical and lyrical quirkiness of Komeda or Chumbawamba and the trip-hop funkadelic stylings of Massive Attack, you'll find The Postal Service. Perhaps this cross-breeding equals an original beast; though it is, in the very least, a melodical and rhythmic experience that you will enjoy. It might not fatten up your top ten list, but I think you'll find that The Postal Service delivers!

I didn't quite understand the importance of "Give Up" three years ago. I was 18, fresh out of high school, and Such Great Heights was on some commercial for a car or something.
I'm 21 now, and I may not fully understand all of what Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello felt with all of this, but I understand my acceptance of this record and all that it gave to me. This album is a full-on assault of emotion and hope.
"The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" is one of the most amazing songs I have heard in my life. The backing vocals are beautiful and pure, as is the feeling the song projects.
"Nothing Better" is an amazing duet a la Humanleague that grabs you from the second it starts. The line "dont you feed me lies about some idealistic future" is one of the greatest phrases I have come across in a sea of lyrics that I have absorbed in my lifetime.
"Clark Gable" is an up track with a dancy beat and nancy lyrics that any Smiths or DuranDuran fan would absolutely cream over. The melody is beautiful and soaring and gives the listener a feeling of flight.
"Give Up" is an amazing album from start to finish and should be absorbed by anyone willing to open their hearts and minds and, for once, feel the emotion of true artists that will, in turn, help them learn about themselves.

This CD is a collaboration of Artists from DNTEL and Death Cab For a Cutie... and together they created some of the best music this era has seen. If you are a fan of the 80's, emo, or indie or you are open to any kind of good music, one sampling of the album will catapult you into an addiction of these masterfully engineered tracks. The lyrics pull you into the broken heart of a man and the music will keep you coming back for more. The tracks contained in this CD are better than 98% of anything that the Mainstream VJ's and DJ's currently expose you too. Don't pass up this marvelous work of art. Its simply amazing

I first heard this album when my friend brought it to my house one day. She told me that I had to hear the second song; that the lyrics are beautiful and so relatable. So I listened to it. At first I thought "Such Great Heights" was rather odd, since I'd never previously listened to any music from this genre. After I listened to it a couple more times, however, I fell in love with not only "Such Great Heights," but with the entire CD. The lyrics are amazing and the vocals and music are soothing but not boring. I highly reccommend this album to everyone.

It's a bit hard to categorize The Postal Service. I think the reviewer "nycgirl" has probably done the best job summing them up. Their style is a wonderful eclectic blend of electronic sounds with various influences. Many of the tracks on this album really go out on an experimental limb, yet they still manage to be consistently successful in their efforts, coming up with tunes that are more and more catchy each time you listen. And each track also manages to be distinctly unique, while still retaining a common thread throughout the album.

The song that first attracted me to The Postal Service was "Such Great Heights," which I heard on my local radio station and immediately loved. By the time the station got around to playing "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight," "Sleeping In," and "We Will Become Silhouettes," I knew I had to get the album. I haven't been disappointed. It would be nearly impossible for me to pick a favorite track, but if forced to choose I'd probably say track 4 - "Nothing Better." The song plays out as a dialogue between a romantic dreamer of a guy, trying to persuade his sweetheart not to leave, and the girl that's doing the leaving. The balance of male and female vocals is beautiful, and the musical beat beneath is irresistible.

The messages of the song lyrics are also enlightened and soothing. You won't find any anger or bitterness here. Perhaps a tinge of wistfulness sprinkled throughout, but the overall feeling of the album is very hopeful.

As much as I'd like to give this album five stars, however, I do have two small criticisms. While I can find no fault with tracks 1-9, the 10th and final track seems (to me) to leave a little to be desired. It's mostly instrumental, with only a small series of lyrics toward the end of the song (which is fine - that isn't the problem), and doesn't seem to have quite the same feel as the rest of the album. Where the other tracks are upbeat and lively, this last one has a bit of a spooky, unsettling sound to it, and I don't think it's the best way to close the album. I usually just stop the CD after the 9th track.

My other disappointment is that the album is just too short. It's over far too quickly, and I would have loved to have a few more songs included.

However, my bottom-line judgement is that this is an excellent album. It's the perfect thing if you want to lie back and relax (I often play it as I'm drifting off to sleep). You just can't help but feel good while listening. The full lyrics are included in the cover insert, which is always nice, though the vocals are perfectly intelligible without needing to read along. If you've heard and liked even just one song by The Postal Service, I can almost guarantee that you'll be happy with this album. Highly recommended!

I am so grateful to destiny that crossed the paths of Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello. Some time ago, the duo created "The Dream of Evan and Chan." As soon as that was completed, they knew they were on to something spectacular. So Gibbard (from Seattle-based Death Cab for Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello (from LA-based Dntel) used the USPS to produce a "synth-pop" record, setting demo CDs, ideas, and tracks via mail. Suitably, they call themselves The Postal Service.

Some may question The Postal Service's "rockability." I assure you, The Postal Service does rock. You see, they have guitars like any other rock band but unlike most bands, they combine gee-tars with an electronic touch. They've taken that basic indie rock recipe, made some alterations and created something pretty damn unexpected. And we're all bubbling with excitement about this totally new flavor of indie fare.

Look forward to the usual Gibbard qualities: melody, pretty word choice, and crooning. This is quite possibly an extremely emo album, but when Ben tells you he's "thinking it's a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss, they're perfectly aligned," you can do nothing but melt.

(...)