(t5!) Heroes Of The Zeroes Albums: #30: The Postal Service – Give Up (2003)

We can all thank “(This Is) The Dream Of Evan And Chan” for this.

After all the congratulations received by the partnership of Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Dntel’s Jimmy Tamborello from IDM-loving critics and treasure-hunting poptimists, the two musicians thought it’d be a wonderful idea to expand their achievements into a full-length album. And they thought it’d be a wonderful idea to not record it in a studio like all normal musicians do, but to record it by sending tracks back and forth via mail, hence the name The Postal Service. Give Up is so extraordinary that the distance between the two creators isn’t at all perceptible when you’re listening to it. They adopted the elements of merriment and experimentation from “Evan and Chan”, tried their hardest to reproduce the delightful euphoria and stylistic approach of The Postal Service’s genesis song (Not to be confused with the Genesis song they covered).

Maybe it’s essential to get the most out of Gibbard’s wistful voice. As we saw in Death Cab, Gibbard make amends for his shortcomings in technique and range as a singer with an abundance of emotion that transforms every melody into the sweetest and cathiest tune (at least, in moderation). He sounds endearing while trying to win over Jen Wood in “Nothing Better”, even when he screws up when he describes the structure of a hockey game. He whimpers in the opening “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”, weakened by his visit with a former friend’s unwelcoming treatment. He sounds lovestruck in “Brand New Colony” as he explains the many similes and metaphors his feelings of deep affection can be compared to.

Tamborello, the other half of the amorous tag-team, knows how to encircle Gibbard’s ballads with thrilling synth-pop. The problem with Gibbard sometimes is that his backing band in Death Cab For Cutie doesn’t know how to appropriately flavor his quiet and amiable croon; yet, Tamborello figured it out after one session with the indie rocker. He accentuates Gibbard in “Clark Gable” with pulsating synths, electric horns, handclaps, and flashes of female back-up vocals. In “Such Great Heights”, he drenches him with raindrop blips, persistent boom-chik drum machine, guitar flashes, and delicate electric piano. Closing track “Natural Anthem” is a showpiece of how to apply warmth on a skittering IDM beat.

Aside from the allure of Give Up, the duo not being able to follow-up their side project probably made Give Up bigger than it actually is, like the music equivalence of Heat for Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino (not that I’m comparing Gibbard and Tamborello’s individual merits to DeNiro’s and Pacino’s). They’ve gone so long without a follow-up that members of discussion forums have actually joked around that they should change their names due to the outdatedness of using snail mail to do business. I suggest to never follow it up, to let it gain inestimable amounts of reverence in music lovers’ imaginations. Let this be The Postal Service’s immaculate swan song, (this is) the dream record of Ben and Jimmy.