First off I must say I’m usually a huge fan of any experimental music. It’s just something about the outside of the box creativity and the unusual sound that kind of draws me into it. So The Postal Service’s “Give Up” hooked me in with a great single, and wound up being one of the best purchases I ever made.
The Postal Service is made up of Ben Gibbard of Deaath Cab For Cutie, and Jimmy Tamborello. The way their music was written was Gibbard would come up with some ideas then record them and send them to Tamborello through the United States Postal Service (giving them the name of their band) and vice versa. They rarely saw each other during the making of the album due to their separate projects. It is amazing that two men sending demos to each other through the mail can release a record this good. While some may find the record too different, it really is a perfect combination of experimental, indie, pop, and new wave.
The album opens with one of their best songs,
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight. The lyrics to this song are great and they get backed up by some great synth and drum beats. For most of the song it’s a slow moving almost indie like piece. Then entering the chorus later in the song a beat comes in and speeds up the song to the perfect pace, and makes this song a very great listen, and can easily be considered one of their best works. This song fades out and in comes
Such Great Heights which is probably their most well known works. Featured on Fuse TV’s commercial for The Dive, featured in the Garden State soundtrack along with Iron & Wine’s cover of the song, this song is very well known and for a good reason: it is catchy as hell. Starting off with some indescribably electronic sounds Gibbard comes in with some unforgettable lyrics;
“I’m thinking it’s a sign
That the freckles in our eyes
Are mirror images
And when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned
I have to speculate that God himself
Did make us into corresponding shapes
Like puzzle pieces from the grave.”
The song is truly a great song, and if have not heard The Postal Service you have to listen to this song, because it will make buy the album in a heartbeat.
So the first two tracks are great, and catchy. But what about the rest of the album?
Recycled Air is one great song, with some not only memorable lyrics, but memorable music as well. It almost sounds like one of those ads for relaxation. Because that is exactly what this song does, it completely relaxes you. The soothing synth in the background with some random beeps (which may sound stupid but sound really great.) The lyrics are deffinitly worth mentioning. The chorus lyrics are:
“I watched the patchwork farms’
Slow fade into the oceans arms
And form here, they can’t see me stare
The stale taste of recycled air”
The verse does not build up into the chorus. The chorus hits you like it would a verse, which adds to the relaxation factor. If you are sitting at home, and want to kick back and just listen to some soothing music. Recycled Air is the song to listen to, and is a great song as well.
This Place Is A Prison is a much, much darker song. While it isn’t heavy, it is very unusual in it’s own twisted way, singing about drugs and depression. It starts off with some creepy synth track, and the vocals come in singing:
“This place is a prison…
These people aren’t your friends…
Inhaling thrills through twenty dollar bills
And the tumblers are drained and then flooded
Again and again”
A very dark and chilling song that will send shivers down you spine. When the drums kick in, it hits your like a train and although you may want to forget this song, you can’t because it is just that great. Not exactly a epic, but it is one of the best.
A couple of letdowns on this record include their only being ten tracks. I wish there was at least twelve, because when this album ending, I kept wanting more and more. And since this the only record they have released to date, there really is nothing fresh to listen to from them. Also their was not a lot of guitar work on the record. There was the occasional guitar to give melody to a beat, but nothing more. More guitars on a Postal Service record would be better.
All in all this is a great record that should be listened to again and again. Although some songs aren’t up to par with the rest, there really isn’t any filler tracks, which is one great thing about this record. If you get the chance to pick this up, and you like Indie/Pop, I highly suggest picking up this record.
4 / 5
Recommended Tracks:
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
Such Great Heights
Recycled Air
This Place Is A Prison
PROs
Great melodies
One of the best Experimental/Indie Pop albums around
No REAL filler tracks
CONs
Could have been more guitars
A few more tracks would have been nice
