Give Up – The Postal Service

You can spend all the time and money in the world trying to create the perfect pop scenario, but sometimes the stars have to fall into place all by themselves. And although the members of The Postal Service joked early on that "Such Great Heights" was the "hit" of their debut album "Give Up", no one could have guessed the impact this album, conceived in bedrooms in the Midwest, would have.

Over ten years have passed since the small project consisting of Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello (DNTEL, Figurine) seemingly roared out of nowhere and burrowed deep into the ears of all those who had come into contact with the infectious electropop of The Postal Service. Of course, The Postal Service's music was at all times much more than just electropop. The power with which Jimmy and Ben evoked the indie rock zeitgeist of the early noughties made them such a phenomenon that artists such as Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Streetlight Manifesto and Confide covered Such Great Heights. A testament to the song's enchanting spark and melodic compactness.

The band's sound is such a landmark that the term "Postal Service-esque" is an accepted adjective in the music world. It was impossible to predict how big "Give Up" would become, but by 2003 it was clear that these gentlemen had created something very special.

C. Barnbeck in Stereo 6/05: "The colourful mixture of very quiet, sometimes purely electronic, then again guitar-heavy songs leaves the listener almost stunned. Moreover, each song is a little pearl in itself. Enriched with often peculiar synthesizer sounds, the album almost floats, enchants and invites you to dream."

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