{"id":1387,"date":"2017-11-08T17:04:40","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T22:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2021-03-04T11:35:59","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T16:35:59","slug":"arachnophonia-the-postal-service-give-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/2017\/11\/arachnophonia-the-postal-service-give-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Arachnophonia: The Postal Service “Give Up”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Arachnophonia<\/a> is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about items in the Parsons Music Library<\/a>\u2018s collection. All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question<\/a> or to additional<\/a> relevant <\/a> information<\/a> from<\/a> around<\/a> the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s installment of Arachnophonia<\/a> is by Music Library student worker, Cole (class of 2021) and features a 2003 album<\/a> of the American indie rock supergroup The Postal Service<\/a>. Thanks, Cole!<\/em><\/p>\n

The Postal Service<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Give Up<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The only album ever released by early 2000\u2019s indie pop\/electronica supergroup The Postal Service, Give Up<\/a><\/em> remains a staple of indie music and a testament to musical collaboration. The Postal Service consisted of electronic artist Jimmy Tamborello<\/a> (also known as Dntel<\/a>) and Death Cab for Cutie<\/a> front man Ben Gibbard<\/a>, featuring additional vocals provided by Rilo Kiley<\/a> front woman Jenny Lewis<\/a> and Seattle-based indie rocker Jen Wood<\/a>. Work on the album began in late 2001, and was accomplished by Tamborello and Gibbard sending CDs of the project back and forth through the mail (hence the band\u2019s name) for just under a year. The Postal Service was always considered to be a side project by its members – during production Gibbard was also working on Death Cab for Cutie<\/a>\u2019s greatest album to date: Transatlanticism<\/a><\/em> – which is why the collaboration\u2019s quality and subsequent success are so profound. Give Up<\/a><\/em> was released on February 19, 2003 through Sub Pop records, receiving near-universal praise and peaking at 45 on the US Billboard 200. The group toured in support of the album from April to August of the same year. <\/p>\n

\"Gibbard

Gibbard and Tamborella circa 2003<\/p><\/div>\n

While Give Up<\/a><\/em> enjoyed moderate success in and around the year of 2003, it truly took on a second life once the group\u2019s members returned to their primary acts. The album received platinum certification (signifying 1,000,000 units sold) in 2012, nearly a decade after its release. It was the second-ever release by Sub Pop<\/a> (and currently is still their second-best selling effort) to achieve the status, coming after Nirvana\u2019s 1989 album Bleach<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

Many people believe Give Up<\/a><\/em> to be Ben Gibbard\u2019s greatest work, which only further salts the wound of The Postal Service<\/a> being an entirely temporary and long gone affair. The Death Cab for Cutie<\/a> front man\u2019s voice arguably fits Tamborella\u2019s 80\u2019s inspired synths better than the four piece rock instrumentation of his main band. Lyrically too, Gibbard seems to have peaked with the intensely autobiographical songs featured on this album. One of my personal favorite excerpts from the first track, \u201cThe District Sleeps Alone Tonight<\/a>\u201d follows:<\/p>\n

It seems so out of context
\nIn this gaudy apartment complex.
\nA stranger with your door key
\nExplaining that “I’m just visiting”.
\nI am finally seeing
\nThat I was the one worth leaving.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Or this excerpt from \u201cNothing Better<\/a>,\u201d in which Ben Gibbard trades verses with Jen Wood, together playing their role as a feuding couple. This verse arrives just as Gibbard\u2019s character has just pleaded with his lover to stay with him. Wood\u2019s response follows:<\/p>\n

I feel I must interject here
\nYou’re getting carried away feeling sorry for yourself
\nWith these revisions and gaps in history
\nSo let me help you remember
\nI’ve made charts and graphs that should finally make it clear
\nPrepared a lecture
\nOn why I have to leave<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While judging from those two excerpts it may appear that Give Up<\/a><\/em> is entirely ruminations on doomed relationships, thematically a lot of ground is covered, including friendship, memories, and happy relationships. In fact, the most popular song off of the album, \u201cSuch Great Heights<\/a>,\u201d opens with:<\/p>\n

I am thinking it’s a sign
\nThat the freckles in our eyes
\nAre mirror images and when
\nWe kiss they’re perfectly aligned<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The album\u2019s impressive persistence post-release prompted The Postal Service<\/a> to release a 10th anniversary edition<\/a> of Give Up<\/a><\/em> in 2013, accompanied by a supporting tour. Despite rumors of a second album in the works, Ben Gibbard announced in early August of that year that the group\u2019s performance in Chicago on August 5th would be their last ever, and the group has since formally disbanded. Although saddened by the destruction of all prospect of a sophomore effort from The Postal Service<\/a>, I can\u2019t help but feel the \u2018one-and-done\u2019 nature of Give Up<\/a><\/em> has helped elevate it into a mythical status within indie rock. It will forever be a personal favorite. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: Arachnophonia is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about items in the Parsons Music Library\u2018s collection. All links included in these posts will take you to either the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[61217,15223],"tags":[61217,61372,162475,15234,38073,61374,61371,15236,38127,61376,61375,61373,15334,37978,61370],"class_list":["post-1387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arachnophonia","category-collection","tag-arachnophonia","tag-beb-gibbard","tag-cole","tag-collection-2","tag-death-cab-for-cutie","tag-dntel","tag-electronica","tag-guest-post","tag-indie-rock","tag-jen-wood","tag-jenny-lewis","tag-jimmy-tamborello","tag-popular-music","tag-student-workers","tag-the-postal-service"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgMV3E-mn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1387"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2943,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387\/revisions\/2943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}