HomeMusicReview: The Postal Service The Postal Service “Give Up” (Sub Pop)Indie rock meets trip-trip with laptop computer generated bleeps and beats via a Pacific Coast relationship by two independent artists in a collaborative effort to get kids who wear Chuck Taylor’s and Sleater-Kinney buttons to start dancing. Not just the ones that usually dance, but ALL OF THEM AT THE SAME TIME.What a sight that must be?Mutual friend and fellow indie rocker Pedro Benito of the Jealous Sound introduced Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, and Dntel mastermind Jimmy Tamborello a few years back in 2000-2001. They eventually decided to collaborate through the U.S. mail by sending bits of electronic music and vocals back and forth to each other from Seattle and Los Angeles. The result is The Postal Service debut “Give Up”.With Tamborello supplying the beats and Gibbard taking up vocal duties and some live instrumentation on drums and guitar, the duo are kicking ass on the college radio charts and have achieved the status of Human League circa 1984 throughout Europe. With back-up vocals by Jenny Lewis and Jen Wood, the album plays like a delightful ride in a sparkling brand new Volkswagen Bug!The strongest song comes in the middle of the record on track four, “Nothing Better”. A bittersweet tale of love and lies; the appeal lies in Gibbards’ and Lewis’ singing dialogue of two disenchanted lovers who can’t tell whether to call it quits or get married. Sigh! That song in particular sounds a hell of alot like Human League too! Man those Europeans are certainly up on their dance music!
