The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
They may be called The Postal Service, but unlike postal service workers, they aren't angry and don't want to kill their wives! This is some great winter music, so make sure to put it on in the car with friends in the middle of a hot July afternoon so you're never handed the aux cord again!
Sometime in the year of 2001, producer Jimmy 'Dntell' Tamborello (of Headset) teamed up with vocalist Ben Gibbard (of Death Cab For Cutie) and back-up/occasional co-lead vocalist Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) in order to execute a very despicable scheme: To make a great album and then immediately disband. Villains. Villains I tell you!
When a vocalist (in this case, two) come from an already well-established band, and then forms another, the question is immediately raised of "Will non-fans of their previous work enjoy this?" and I can honestly say yes. I've never been a fan of Death Cab For Cutie (maybe that'll change upon further re-inspection!) and I had never even heard of Rilo Kiley before, so there was no natural bias one way or the other upon listening to this album.
From the opening, dreamily depressing track "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" to the final "Natural Anthem", there's rarely a genuinely happy moment to be found despite the adorable nature of some of the songs, such as the hit single "Such Great Heights", which if you were on the fence of whether you like it or not, I'll do you a favor right now: You like it. Even if you somehow don't (what are you? A demon?), the album could still possibly appeal to you.. Just maybe not after a difficult break-up, because then you'll probably end up feeling worse than you did before.
Jimmy Tamborello's production throughout the entire album stays consistently entertaining, be it calming, poppy, or even taking a dark approach on the rare occasion. Ben Gibbard's voice perfectly fits the fragile nature of the lyrics, and with Jenny Lewis doing backing vocals, or even co-lead vocals in "Nothing Better", a track about a man who cannot mentally let go of a woman after a terrible break-up, and a woman who feels the need to distance herself from him. All in all, the trio works extremely well, and the album greatly benefits from Jimmy Tamborello's synth-pop production mixing well with the natural vocal chemistry provided by Ben Gibbard and Jenny Lewis.
The ending of "Clark Gable" has some great drums, but even better than that, the beeps underneath sound a great deal like that Spanish song "El Sonidito" by Hechizeros Band. You know, that Spanish song that just has a beeping sound all throughout it. Congratulations on never being able to un-hear that shit!
Breaking away from some of the cold and dreamy atmospheres of the songs, the track "This Place is a Prison" is oddly dark, but it's a great contrast to the rest of the tracks, especially lyrically, with its lyrical themes referring to alcoholism and drug addiction. The lines "I know that it's not a party if it happens every night. Pretending there's glamor and candelabra, when you're drinking by candlelight. What does it take to get a drink in this place? What does it take, how long must I wait?" really resonated with me, despite not having any addictions.
"Give Up" is a beautiful experience that reminds us what it feels to love and to hurt. It expresses fragile, insecure emotions we've all felt at one point in time, but were too embarrassed to admit. When it comes to the band telling me to give up, maybe some would follow their words, and maybe at times in my life I'd be willing to comply, but these days, I want to do anything but.
8/10
________________________________________________________
Feel free to check out the song previews/buy this album using my Amazon Associate link!
