The last time anyone heard brand new music from The Postal Service, George W. Bush was in his first term as President, Britney Spears hadn’t gone crazy, and the Red Sox were in an 85 year World Series drought. The Postal Service’s one and only album, Give Up was an anomaly in the post-boy band era, where 50 Cent had his first number one album and Avril Lavigne ruled the airwaves with “Sk8er Boi.” They were 80s retro before it was cool to be 80s retro, with Ben Gibbard’s vocals soaring over fun and simple, albeit a bit cheesy, synths and drum machine loops created by Jimmy Tamborello.
Officially classified as synth-pop, a genre that has its roots in the 70s German music scene dubbed as “krautrock” and redefined in the 80s by bands like Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, and New Order, The Postal Service weren’t creating new ground but they were breathing new life into a long forgotten about music style. They spawned bands and musicians like M83, Ellie Goulding and the ultimate Postal Service rip-off artist, Owl City.
After all this time, how does this album sound? Surprisingly, it holds up well. The album starts off with “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” and it still sounds as good as it did back when it was first heard in 2003. The 808 drums bop along at an upbeat but speedy pace, juxtaposed with Ben’s haunting vocals. “Such Great Heights” is still the same sweet song as it’s always been, though maybe not their best song. Much of the album goes along like this, with catchy beats and sing-songy lyrics, though it hits a few snags in the latter portion with songs like “This Place is a Prison” and “National Anthem”. These bumps can be forgiven but it’s still a speed bump in an otherwise great road. Thankfully those two songs come towards the end of the sadly short album.
So, why ten years later are we talking about this album? The band and their record label Sub Pop, decided it was a perfect time to re-release the album with b-sides, remixes and two brand new songs. The band has been adamant over the last few years that they won’t put out another album; with Ben going as far to say that the second album wasn’t a priority for either musician. Despite that there have been whispers of them working on new songs, and finally two of them appear on this re-release. The first one, “A Tattered Line of String,” was released this week via YouTube with a video that showed the numerous variant colors that the vinyl re-release will eventually have. How is the new song? It’s… alright. Sub Pop came out and stated that it wasn’t a track left off of Give Up or a b-side, but that it was in fact a brand new song, started in 2006 and finished six years later in 2012. This fact shows itself clearly in the song.
It’s almost as if the band had forgotten how to be The Postal Service. The instrumental work is dated sounding (more so than the ten year old album) and the lyrics are largely boring. It isn’t until near the end that the song picks up some steam and Tamborello’s synths and drum machine get to shine a little. Overall most of the b-sides and remixes are available on iTunes or at the very least scattered around the internet. One of the best b-sides, and an often overlooked track, is a Phil Collins cover of “Against All Odds” that works incredibly well considering.
With nothing new other than two songs the price is a bit steep at $45 for the vinyl or $28 for the CD, although you do get a t-shirt. This is a pretty remarkable album though and primarily responsible for most of the indie pop music that we listen to today. It will remind you of all the promise that Ben Gibbard once held and maybe allow you to forget most of Gibbard/Death Cab for Cutie’s output after the album Plans. As for Jimmy Tamborello, unless you’re a diehard Dntel fan, you’ve probably never heard of him and this is the best or at least the most well-known work that he’s put out.
Arguably the best thing about this re-release is that the band is going out on tour for twelve dates, so if you missed them back in the early 00s, this is your chance to see them. If you don’t own Give Up in some format, it will certainly be worthwhile to pick up, it holds up shockingly well and the songs are some of the most perfectly crafted pop songs and you’ll get a bunch of extras with it. Look for the re-release to drop in April and the new single, “A Tattered Line of String” is available on YouTube, iTunes and Spotify.