Number 10. – Give Up – The Postal Service
I’ll never be a Death Cab fan, but this is a charming and lovely little album. It sounds no less imperfect from far away because, well, it was always flawed. Ben Gibbard’s voice is simultaneously timid and upfront enough to make his uber-mawkish lyrics retain every bit of mawkishness. ‘I swear I’ll do my best to comply’? ‘I feel I must interject here’? Christ, just ’cause the music sounds like a computer doesn’t mean you have to talk like one. Each of the first eight tracks off Give Up is strong enough to qualify as a career highlight, even if I get less excited about lead single “Such Great Heights” than the average fan. Personal favorites include the slow-burning opener “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”, the lyrically quirky yet absurdly catchy “Clark Gable”, and “Recycled Air”, whose winding bridge stands as the record’s finest moment. I also feel obliged to mention “This Place Is a Prison”, which is the most Transatlanticism-esque thing on the record and strikes me as the releases’ most artistically significant offering. Both the bouncy indie pop ditty “Brand New Colony” and the Kid A-influenced (mostly) instrumental “Natural Anthem” have their moments, but those always make the record a tiny bit of a chore to finish off. An essential indie-pop album. If you really like Give Up yet for some reason have never gotten into Death Cab, I suggest starting with Photo Album as the most Postal Service-esque record from Ben Gibbard’s more famous band.
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