Frogtoon Music

Give Up (Album) by The Postal Service

Artist Biography For The Postal Service

The Postal Service Was An American Indie Electropop Band Which Formed In Seattle Washington In 2001. The Group Consisted Of Ben Gibbard Vocals Guitar Keyboards Jimmy Tamborello Production Programming Synthesizers And Jenny Lewis Vocals Guitar . The Band Released One Album "Give Up" In 2003 And Were Active Until 2005. The Band Reunited In 2013 For A Reunion Tour Before Permanently Disbanding That August. The Band Started Life As A Side Project For Singer Ben Gibbard Of Death Cab For Cutie And Producer Jimmy Tamborello Of Dntel Headset And Figurine. The Group Formed In 2001 After Gibbard Contributed Vocals For A Song On Dntel's Album Life Is Full Of Possibilities Called This Is The Dream Of Evan And Chan. The Band Released Their Debut Album Give Up On 18 February 2003 On The Sub Pop Label. The Album Was Certified Platinum By The Recording Industry Association Of America And Is The Second Best-Selling Record In The History Of Sub Pop Records After Bleach By Nirvana. Several Songs On This Album Feature Guest Vocals From Jenny Lewis The Lead Singer Of Rilo Kiley A Band Which Was Once On The Same Label As Death Cab Barsuk Records And Vocals From Jen Wood An Indie Rock Solo Artist. Chris Walla Recorded Some Of The Songs And Played The Piano On Nothing Better. Lewis' Membership In The Band Was Unclear During The "Give Up"-Era Although She Appeared With Tamberello And Gibbard In The Music Video For "We Will Become Silhouettes". By The Time Of Their 2013 Reunion Lewis Had Become A Permanent Third Member Of The Group. The Group's Name Comes From The Manner In Which Their Songs Were Written Due To The Fact That The Two Of Them Lived Too Far Away To Be Able To Work Together In Person. Tamborello Would Create Beats And Mail Them To Singer And Lyricist Gibbard Who Would Then Edit Them And Put His Melodies Over The Tracks And Mail Them Back. Gibbard Didn't Write Any Of The Lyrics Until The Tracks Were Completely Finished. In August 2003 The United States Postal Service Sent The Band A Cease And Desist Letter Citing Its Trademark On The Phrase "postal Service". After Negotiations The USPS Relented Allowing The Band Use Of The Trademark In Exchange For Promotional Efforts On Behalf Of The USPS And A Performance At Its Annual National Executive Conference. Additionally At One Point The USPS Website Sold The Band's CDs. In 2007 "Such Great Heights" Appeared In The Background Of The "Whiteboard" Advertising Campaign For One Of The Federal Establishment's Private Competitors The United Parcel Service. The Album's Most Notable Single Was Such Great Heights That Has Been Featured In Various Television Commercials Series And Movie Trailers Also Remixed By John Tejada. The Postal Service Contributed A Cover Of Against All Odds To The Soundtrack To The 2004 Motion Picture Wicker Park And The Band Has Worked On Several Remixes Of Other Artists Including Do You Realize? Postal Service Remix From Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots And Little Girl Blue Postal Service Remix From Verve Remixed 3 And Mushaboom Postal Service Remix . Gibbard Doesn't Sing On These Remixes Except For Feist's Mushaboom And It Is Likely That He Granted Jimmy Tamborello Permission To Work Alone Under The Name The Postal Service. Second Album On June 22 2007 It Was Revealed That The Postal Service Had Begun Work On A New Album Though The Specifics Of The Release Date Were Ambiguous. Gibbard Stated "We're Slowly Starting. We're Crawling Right Now And Whether That Crawl Turns Into A Walk Remains To Be Seen. But We'll Know More Towards The End Of The Year. I've Just Been Touring So Much And Trying To Find Time To Make It Happen And Make Our Schedules Line Up." Tamborello Added "We're Talking About Wanting To Finish An Album By Sometime Next Year Because We Have To Work With Death Cab's Schedule And Stuff. I Definitely Want To Do Another One." On February 29 2008 Spinner Released An Article Stating That The Postal Service May Not Release A New Album. Ben Gibbard Stated "Jimmy And I Are Still Throwing Ideas Back And Forth But As Time Goes On We Find Ourselves Busy With Our Own Music. ... We Have Some Stuff But It's Been Difficult To Find The Time And The Drive To Do The Record. I'd Love To Finish It At Some Point And Maybe Even Do Some Performances. If It's Meant To Be It's Meant To Be." In A December 2008 Interview With Rolling Stone Gibbard Laughed Off Suggestions That The Postal Service's Long Overdue Follow-Up To Their 2003 Hit Give Up Is An Indie Version Of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy. Gibbard Said That Both He And Tamborello Do Not See It As A Priority In Light Of Their Main Projects Death Cab For Cutie And Dntel. He Said "The Anticipation Of The Second Record Has Been A Far Bigger Deal For Everybody Except The Two Of Us... I Don't Know About It Being The Indie-Rock Chinese Democracy But Now That Chinese Democracy Has Come Out I Guess It Just Becomes The Second Postal Service Record That Will Never Come Out. There Never Really Was A Plan To Do A Second Album. We Work From Time To Time Together But We Have Other Things That Take Up All Of Our Time." 2013 Reunion As Of November 2012 Ben Gibbard Posted On His Twitter Account That There Are "no Plans" To Produce Another Postal Service Record. He Did Not Cite Any Specific Reason For This Statement Other Than The Fact That Multiple Fans Questioned If There Was Going To Be A Second Album. In January 2013 Postal Service Updated Their Website To Read "The Postal Service 2013 " Reigniting Speculation That The Band Would Play Shows Or Possibly Release A New Album. It Was Later Confirmed That The Image On The Band's Site Portended That The Band's Debut Give Up Would Receive A Ten Year Anniversary Re-Issue Featuring A 15-Song Disc Of Rarities Including Two New Songs With Jenny Lewis. In February 2013 The Postal Service Announced It Would Officially Reunite For Twelve Tour Dates Including The 2013 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival In April The Primavera Sound Festival 2013 In Barcelona Sasquatch! Festival In Washington And Lollapalooza 2013 In Chicago. The Band Played A Lollapalooza Aftershow On August 4 2013 To 1 200 People At Wrigleyville's Metro In Which Ben Gibbard Prefaced The Night's Second Rendition Of "Such Great Heights" By Saying "not Only Is This The Last Song Of The Tour This Is The Last Show We Will Ever Do." At The Song's Conclusion Gibbard Stated That "The Postal Service Is Closed." In 2023 The Band Reunited Once Again To Celebrate The 20th Anniversary Of "Give Up" In A Co-Headlining Tour With Death Cab For Cutie For The 20th Anniversary Of "Transatlanticism."

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: Give Up

Already Assured A Place On The Best Of 2003 Cd List The Postal Service’s First Album ‘Give Up’ And The Group Themselves Have Experienced A Sudden Almost Startling Rising Success. They’ve Deftly Shaken-Up America Like A Gentle Buzzing Electrical Storm Sending Out Wonderfully Harmonic Wake Up World Tones From Seemingly Everyone’s Stereos. Originally Created As A By Mail Almost Pen Pal Style Side Project In Only A Few Short Months People Have Embraced And Clamored For This Wonderfully Grand Unique Blend Of Intelligent Electronic Music And Emotional Indie Pop. By Teaming Together The Postal Service Has Managed To Create A Sort Of Indie Supergroup. By Following The Typical Dntel M-O Jimmy Tamborello United Talented Artists To Contribute To His Electronic Stylings. Apparently Since The Team Stayed The Same Throughout Each Song They Decided To Give Themselves A Name And Come Out As A Full-Blown Side Project. All Of The Players In This Postal Game Come From Bands Rolling Uphill In Their Own Right. The Talented Sirens Jen Wood Who Has A List Of Credits A Mile Long Including A Fairly Successful Solo Career And The Singing Duties Of The Former Band Tattle Tale And Jenny Lewis Lead Vocalist From Rilo Kiley Whose Band Had An Explosion Of Popularity Last Year When Their Latest Album Received Rave Reviews From Every Conceivable Publication Add Grace Tremendously To The Album With Their Angelic Voices Harmonizing And Backing Each Track In Some Cases Adding More And Turning These Electro Pop Morsels Into Full Blown Duets. From The Indie Staple Group Death Cab For Cutie Came Background Instrumentalist Extraordinaire Chris Walla Who Has Helped Make DCFC Albums As Enjoyable As They Have Been Throughout The Years And Singer Guitarist Ben Gibbard. Last Year They Released A Compilation Album To A Grateful Audience Which Was A Well-Received Typical DCFC Release Full Of Scratchy Guitars And Ben’s Distinct Singing But The Typical Death Cab Release Is Very Different From What Has Blossomed Here. On Give Up Chris Walla Provides Scores Of Undetectable Enhancements To Each Song And Gibbard Delivers His Extremely Touching Lyrics With Such Clarity That It’s Undeniable What Parts Of His Life You’re Looking Into. It Seems Many Are Surprised That Ben Is Such A Good Songwriter! Who Knew? You Can Hear His Soft-Sung Vocals Here Much Better Than In A Death Cab For Cutie Song Where Often The Words Are Overtaken By Crunchy Instrumentation. These Songs Are Riddled With Heart And Ethereal Symphonic Beeping That Permeates Your Head And Gently Massages All The Right Spots On Your Brain While Filling Your Body With A Tingling Gravity Defying Substance. You Find Yourself Floating Up High And Then You Slowly Spindrift Your Way Back Down To Earth On The Subtle Rises And Falls In Every Goose Bump Inducing Tune. Many Of The Songs Talk About Dreaming And Sleep And Rightly The Whole Album Has A Very Dreamy Feel. The Single ‘Such Great Heights’ Is The Best Example Of This Tonal Mind Massage As The Electronic Keys Slice Daggers Through Your Minds Most Annoying Defenses. All Doubt And Pompous Skepticism Are Immediately Stripped Away From Even The Most Jaded Music Elitist As They’re Sucked Into Pure Enjoyment. The Song ‘Clark Gable’ Speaks Of An All Too Familiar Despondence Solved With A Creative Bid At Movie Magic When Thoughts About How Romance Maybe Isn’t All We Were Told To Believe Collide With The Desire To Maintain The Fantasy By A Hopeless Romantic. But Above All ‘Nothing Better’ Is The True Darling That Is Even Mentioned With Hesitance. You’d Rather Keep This Heart-Tearing Duet Selfishly All To Yourself Before Touting It’s Gut-Wrenching Beauty To Others. Impressively The Remarkable Combination Of These Peoples Efforts Have Helped To Make The Postal Service Stand Out In Ways Their Full Time Projects Have Not. Not To Be Taken As A Knock To Any Of These Exceptional Rising Bands In Fact The Problem That These Bands Can’t Be Knocked Is One Of The Great Concerns Of This ‘side Project’. With Such A Bubbling Pot Of Boiling Hot Talent How Could It Possibly Not Risk The Danger Of Spilling Over? The Mind Fills With Questions As To The Future Of This Band And The Original Bands That Fans Have Already Come To Endear. What Will People Cry For If The Law Of Supply And Demand Is Tested? Would The Postal Service Sound As Unbelievable With Different Performers Filling It’s Ranks? And Predominately What’s On Everyone’s Mind Is What The Hell Is This Wonderful Music? Where Did It Come From How Can It Possibly Be This Fresh? The Idea Of Fusing Electronic Music With Emotional Singing Isn’t An Incredible Brainstorm. You’ve Heard Talented People Doing It For Years. But There Is Just Something Profoundly Different About This Soft Sincere Pairing. Maybe It’s The Magical Combination Of These Talented Individuals Or Maybe It’s A Glorious Niche In Style They’ve Somehow Uncovered But Whatever It Is It’s Been Exposed To The Masses And The People Have Had Their Taste. Like An Animal Who’s Tasted Human Flesh There Is No Stopping The Insatiable Crave For More After You’ve Heard Enough Of These Sounds To Permeate And Clutch Your Brain There’s No Going Back You’re Going To Join The Throngs Of Wild Humans Clamoring For More. Review By Michael Delgado Purchase And Learn More At Http //www.Subpop.Com/artists/the_Postal_Service

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