check out "The Postal Service"

[~Electronaut]

I thought I'd drop a whatsup about this band that I'm completely blown away by. They're called the Postal Service, as so convincingly explained in the subject heading. It's a collaboration between Death Cab for Cuties Ben Gibbard on vocals and Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello on electronics. Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley also contributes. Best way I can describe them is a Lightning Seed-ish, electro-pop band with DCFC's indie glow still intact, but for all I know you might they smack of Type O Negative. Anyways, wanted to get the word out on em. Heres a couple of links for y'all.


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000089CJI/qid=1055215263/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-8864605-5868931?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

http://www.subpop.com/scripts/main/bands_page.php?id=412

[~KrystalWrists]

O hell yes.

Oddly enough a friend just introduced me to these guys yesterday.

Good stuff. I highly recommend it.


krystal

[~Eldritch]

Agree! A very good album indeed. Some other comparisons: Magnetic Fields, Future Bible Heroes, Erlend Øye.

[~Electronaut]

righton

[~DekaDude]

No offense, but Postal Service kind of bug me. Just because they stem from Indie Rock bands, college radio stations (including the one I DJ at) have jumped all over this release. Many of these same stations won't touch other Synthpop-oriented releases with a ten foot pole, but because this one has Indie Rock cred and is on Subpop it's suddenly "Cool" to play this particular band. In my humble opinion, there are many, many electronic bands that have worked for years that deserve far more attention than Postal Service does. Just voicing my opinion here.

[~maidenhed]

I too work at a college station and have seen this jumped all over...but that's a good thing. At least something good is getting out on the airwaves. Sure, other bands might "deserve" it more, but someone has to be the first to get over the hump, what does it matter who it is as long as the floodgates open eventually? The sooner the better, that's what I say.

Besides, it's a terrific release, one of the best albums of the year thus far in my opinion.

[~Eldritch]

DekaDude: you do have a point. But Postal Service have one big advantage to many other electronic acts – brilliant lyrics. Whereas many synthpop bands write very generic and uninspiring lyrics, the witty and eloquent lyrics for Give Up are among the best I've heard for a long time. They keep me coming back to the album and finding new things to like in it.

Personally lyrics are very important for me: I can't really relate to a band like Mesh, who spoils their good sounds and melodies by always sprinkling the same vague whining about being let down and betrayed.

[~Daft Monk]

um...

http://www.electrogarden.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6949

Sorry about that...

Actually, I'm with DekaDuke here. While I've listened to enough Postal Service to not have automatically dismissed them, I've listened to enough of their stuff that it's really clear to me that their just inde-wankers playing dress up and making fun of synthpop(hehehe, see how easy it is to do). It's something of a tradition in the indie rock scene since the mid-90's when the first tentative steps were taken in this direction. Maybe I'm being too harsh here, but as long time supporter of electronic music it bothers me. As for the previously mentioned comparisons, I would disagree with the Erland Oye as direct comparison, because while his music may have a similar mood, his sounds completely sincere to me.

[~Eldritch]

But isn't it exactly the same with Erlend Øye? I mean: before he did his solo album he was the other member of Kings Of Convenience, which was a completely acoustic indie duo. In addition to that Øye has used no less than ten trendy electronic producers from all over the world, so in a way isn't that more cynical than what The Postal Service are doing?

I can't see anything wrong with what The Postal Service are doing. I see them continuing the tradition of New Order, who have built their career on combining electronic sounds to very indie aesthetics. Stephin Merritt (Magnetic Fields, the 6ths, Future Bible Heroes) has also been doing the same kind of stuff with his projects for a decade, so there exists a definite tradition for this kind of thing.

[~Daft Monk]

Could have fooled me with Kings Of Convenience, who signed to Astralwerks for their remix album which gave me the false impression that they had more of an electronic background. I would still argue that there is a difference since there are Norwegian and I believe that the other examples hail from the US. Actually, I prefer Future Bible Heroes over Postal Service, but the tradition I was thinking about dealt more with folks like Takako Minekawa & Looper who were at least embraced by the indie rockers I know as a campy way of making fun of the "enemy."
As for the NO comparison, now that's something that I think is way off since they've always talked about their music in terms of punk, but in the way it would sound if the year wasn't 1977. Ladytron is a better candidate than the Postal Service for NO comparisons because they aren't hiding behind the coy indie cuteness that annoys the living hell out of me. But, hey if this is your cup of tea, that's cool. It just isn't mine.

[~Eldritch]

When I referred to New Order, I was talking more about the feel of the music than their image. I'm not too keen on "coy indie cuteness", but since all I really know about the band is the cd I own and like, it doesn't bother me at all in this case. I feel The Postal Service has the same slightly "unprofessional", not too polished, do-it-yourself approach to electronics and vocals as New Order had especially in the Eighties. Tracks like Such Great Heights and This Place Is A Prison feel totally sincere to me – actually much more than Merritt's recent work, which is becoming a bit too glib and formulaic for my liking. Øye's album is of course much more slicker, but as a whole it feels a bit pale and bloodless.

But like you said, we obviously like our tea with different brands, and that's cool.