One of the greatest albums of all time. A perfect mix of electronic and indie made completely by sending burned CD-Rs in the mail across the west coast of the US between Dntel and Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie). This album IS my college years and I probably listened to this album a few times per week for nearly 4 years. "Natural Anthem" is chaotic beauty. "Nothing Better" is a heart breaking break-up song between 2 people who used to love each other, but now unrequited by the female narrator. "Sleeping In" is my favorite song on the album; a song about dreaming and here in Texas, we can swim any day in November. "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" and "Such Great Heights" are pop classics. If you like this, I recommend listening to the 10th Anniversary Edition from 2013; it has a great collection of extra songs like "Be Still My Heart", a cover of John Lennon's "Grow Old With Me" and "Suddenly Everything Has Changed". Just a masterpiece. Instant 5/5; 6 out of 5, really.
Give Up
The Postal Service
2003
- Album Summary
This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.
Give Up is the only studio album by American electronic duo The Postal Service, released on February 18, 2003, by Sub Pop Records. The Postal Service was a collaboration between singer-songwriter Ben Gibbard, best-known for his work with indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, and musician Jimmy Tamborello, who also records under the name Dntel. Gibbard rose to prominence in the early 2000s as frontman of Death Cab, while Tamborello gained a cult following as a pioneer of contemporary glitch music and electronica. The two first collaborated with the song "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan", for Dntel's debut LP, Life Is Full of Possibilities (2001). The album is a long-distance collaboration between Gibbard, who lived in Seattle, Washington, and Tamborello, who resided in Los Angeles, California. The duo named the project for their working method: the pair would send demos on burned CD-R's through the mail, adding elements until songs were complete. The LP's sound contrasts manipulated samples and keyboards with live guitar and drums—a sound some have described as "indietronica". Tamborello was responsible for the programming, while Gibbard wrote lyrics, provided vocals, and contributed additional instrumentation. Give Up also features guest appearances from vocalists Jen Wood and Jenny Lewis, as well as musician Chris Walla. Give Up was released with little promotion—its creators embarked on a brief tour, but otherwise returned to their main projects. Despite this, the album grew in popularity steadily in the ensuing years, bolstered by the singles "Such Great Heights" and "We Will Become Silhouettes". By the end of its first decade, it had sold 1.2 million copies in the U.S., making it Sub Pop's second-biggest selling album in its history. It also courted a trademark battle with the United States Postal Service and a dispute with Apple. Despite its popularity, Give Up stands as the duo's only studio album. In 2013, the group briefly reunited for an anniversary tour and reissue of the album.
Reviews
Like a review? Give it a thumb up to help us display relevant reviews!Even though I'm not especially enthusiastic about this album, I'd say it deserves a place on the list. It was an undeniable part of the indie landscape of the early 2000s.
Heard about this one a lot and some of the songs but never actually sat and listened to through. It mostly lived up to the hype for me, musically engaging and lyrically interesting.
Death Cab for Cutie meets Air. What could go wrong? Nothing indeed
The Postal Service takes me to a very specific emotion at a very specific time in my life and for that I can never evaluate it fairly. If I try to peel back my psychological tendrils and peer at the thing with fresh ears I may say that it overstays its welcome and honestly sounds a bit silly with how mopey it is. But I was once silly for mopey I was.
Eh, not really my thing but I didn't hate it. The upbeat songs were alright. I don't mind mixing a bit of rock and electronica, but this didn't end up packing enough of a punch for me. 3/5.
This was all the rage in college for me. I suppose quite influential for indietronica but feels a bit hollow in retrospect.
5/10. I can't deny that great heights is a great song, but most of this album felt a bit lackluster to me. Which, I suppose, is sort of the point of the indie aesthetic, but I guess I just like my music lustrous.
Yeah, this feels like a snub honestly.
One of my favorite albums of all time. It pops, it bleeds watercolor, it is a synthesized masterpiece. If you didn't already add this one I just might have.
This shouldn't have worked. Ben Gibbard, with his talent for catchy tunes and great vocal lines, doing his thing against a backtrack of bleeps and bloops and Super Mario style electronics. But it works. It really works! I remember the first time I head this album, shortly after it came out. I was immediately sucked into this nerdy-but-cool world. And I'm still there. Excellent record!
Such Great Heights is a banger that the rest of the album doesn’t quite live up to. Probably would have picked a Death Cab for Cutie album over this but not a bad rec. 7/10
Hadn't listened to this album for a long time. Forgot how good it was. Thanks for suggesting.
VRaiment bon, un bon vibe et tout, CA merite des bien cote. 4
The Postal Service represent a simple brand of highly-competent collaboration. Gibbard's voice holds the thing together and gives each single commercial cutting edge, while the soundscapes consistently widen the record. Feels like the trimming of the tracklist could have resulted in a different ordering. The blueprint for a delicate, less-jangly indie was dearly needed.
DNTEL meets Ben Gibbard and good times ensue. This is a very nice album with some lovely electro-pop songs.
Oh yeah, The Postal Service
I've listened to this before, and I like it overall. The songs are good and interesting, but I really dislike the inorganic sounding electronic aspects of the album. It makes the whole thing sound kind of droning and monotonous. 3 stars.
Pretty straight-forward modern indie
Very gloomy music, and the sound of Death Cab is never far away. Although I found this album a little more longwinding. Not exactly boring, but it could be better
Who votes 5 stars for this whiney crap?
I loved this album when it first came out. Death Cab For Cutie was at their peak (in my opinion) at the time and this was just icing on the cake. All these years later (oh man, I'm getting old) I still really enjoy this album. I dont know if I like it quite as much now but it's quite enjoyable and I have such nice memories associated with it. It gets a 5. Yeah, I'm cool with that.
Only heard ‘Such Great Heights’ previously, so the full LP came as a little bit of a shock with how experimental and almost clubby it felt. Not sure Gibbard’s wandering and narrative lyricism gels 100% with the fully electronic tracks, but somehow it all makes an odd kind of sense. This feels like a breath of fresh air even today (despite a few dated instrumentals), so I can’t imagine how hard it hit back in the early 2000s.
Oh fuck yeah we are so back
Exceptional.
Awesome!
Chilled out electronic indie music. It's super dreamy and relaxing, but occasionally an intriguing lyric or piece of instrumentation pulls your consciousness in. I'd never heard this record before but have just listened on loop three times. A lovely vibe. I really like it. Rating: 4.5 Playlist track: Sleeping In Date listened: 10/09/24
I'm a big Death Cab fan, so Ben Gibbard's delivery is something that really works for me. I really like it in this setting, an electronic vibe that has a really simplistic approach but delivers surprising warmth in its style. Though it gets a little uneven by the end, the album as a whole is a great background sound that sets a cool mood.
Just an excellent album. Not sure why they decided to cover Phil Collins, but I guess Rivers and Ben like to cover other songs.
When I was writing my note for last night’s album selection (Death Cab for Cutie’s “Transatlanticism”) a big part of my review said that while that album was quite good, if I were to pick a Benjamin Gibbard contribution I’d have put The Postal Service’s Give Up album on the list first. I love its quirky, beepy boopy introspectiveness. It was one of the albums I considered contributing when I completed the project. I deleted the part of the Transatlanticism review that talked about this - it didn’t seem necessary to bring up after a day’s reflection - and submitted. Then look what pops up next! This is an album that helped me weather some challenging times back in the day. I guess the universe (and the person who picked this to add) gave me a little treat tonight. Thank you!
Another great relisten
5 4
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: The district sleeps alone tonight, We will become silhouettes
This is a super influential indie electronic album. There seems to me like a decent amount of influence was taken from video game soundtracks which was interesting to hear. There are some very strong moments on this album, but there were a few areas that didn’t land as well for me.
I remember hearing about The Postal Service when the album came out, but I am sure I never gave it a listen. Now I have.
I'm a big fan of Death Cab and the voice of Ben Gibbard. That's why I found it comfortable to listen to this album. Despite of this, the musical accompaniment is not really to my liking. Bu it is still Ben 😉
Good synth dance music reminding a little 9f Hot Chip. Good.
Really lovely. I'm not fond of the vocals, but this definitely should have made the original list. Fave Songs: Such Great Heights, We Will Become Silhouettes, The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
If you’re only gonna make one album as a band it helps when the album is as good as this one. With the soft emo style of singing mixed with the electronic indie this album is pretty solid. Such great heights is a classic and has plenty of replay value. The Phil collins cover on this was also pretty well done. Overall this was a fun modern album that should’ve had another one to follow it. 7.1/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_6KTZgayxg
Pretty nocey
Long, but quite charming.
Enjoyed the one without the really fucking annoying vocals on it.
Indietronica, indie pop, synth-pop. Qué dolor... Un 2.
Eh. It was indie music and it was annoying. I made it through.