The Daily Spin, October 21
The Postal Service | Give Up
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite songs from each album right here.
Album: Give Up (2003)
Artist: The Postal Service
Link:
What a delightful experience listening to this album is - even twenty years on, it never really feels dated or out of time, instead just a wonderful little collaboration that I feel lucky to have been able to indulge in.
Though it’s not perfect in nature, I think any missteps are easily forgiven because of the soundscape here - snappy electropop that rarely takes a breath to rest paired with simple, soulful, gentle lyricism that leaves little room for the bucketfuls of sentiment that accompany easy of these tracks.
Though his vocals are often tremulous, Ben Gibbard (also of Death Cab for Cutie) manages to expertly convey the correct energy for each tune, and under his wobbles and unsteady steps, the driving beats that Jimmy Tamborello craft keep a stringent pace that fits each poetic lyric comfortably.
I’m most impressed at the sense I derive from listening to this album - never a feeling of age, merely appreciation. It’s hard not to look at some of these tracks and play them like a score to a movie, something few albums achieve and even fewer do this well.
Rating: 8.4/10
Best Tracks: Such Great Heights; The District Sleeps Alone Tonight; This Place Is A Prison
Worst Tracks: Nothing Better