Give Up (MC)

Rating

Album: Give Up (MC)
#	Song Title		Time
1)	The District Sleeps Alone Tonight	More Info...	0:04
2)	Such Great Heights	More Info...	0:04
3)	Sleeping In	More Info...	0:04
4)	Nothing Better	More Info...	0:03
5)	Recycled Air	More Info...	0:04
6)	Clark Gable	More Info...	0:05
7)	We Will Become Silhouettes	More Info...	0:05
8)	This Place Is a Prison	More Info...	0:04
9)	Brand New Colony	More Info...	0:04
10)	Natural Anthem	More Info...	0:05

Album: Give Up (MC)
#	Song Title		Time
1)	The District Sleeps Alone Tonight	More Info...	0:04
2)	Such Great Heights	More Info...	0:04
3)	Sleeping In	More Info...	0:04
4)	Nothing Better	More Info...	0:03
5)	Recycled Air	More Info...	0:04
6)	Clark Gable	More Info...	0:05
7)	We Will Become Silhouettes	More Info...	0:05
8)	This Place Is a Prison	More Info...	0:04
9)	Brand New Colony	More Info...	0:04
10)	Natural Anthem	More Info...	0:05

Performer Notes

The Postal Service: Ben Gibbard (guitar, electric piano, keyboards, drums); Jimmy Tamborello (programming).
Additional personnel: Jen Wood (vocals); Chris Walls (piano); Jenny Lewis (background vocals).
A side project from Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello, who formerly played with synth-poppers Figurine but now records as Dntel, the Postal Service creates bedroom electronica with surprising emotional pull on GIVE UP. Ten tracks lyrically convey both a youthful ennui and the nostalgic ache of longing. Tamborello creates a tense sonic space that allows Gibbard's spare yet careful guitar to occasionally chime in and cut the tension.
While Tamborello's sculpted electronics hearken back to the minimalism of early Depeche Mode, Gibbard's expressively fey vocals and emotional sentiments lend a warm, comforting contrast to the machine-age chilliness (as do the occasional backing vocals from Jen Wood and Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis). This contrast is best illustrated on "We Will Become Silhouettes," when Gibbard sings "[A]nd we become silhouettes when our bodies finally go," only to be followed by a string of optimistic bleeps that are the sonic equivalent of a miniature sky full of twinkling stars.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (12/25/03, p.109) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2003"

Rolling Stone (4/17/03, p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...A cuddly little new wave reverie..."

Uncut (6/03, p.92) - "...Gibbard's refined, feather-light vocals waft delicately over Tamborello's indie electronica, creating a wide-eyed world out of bittersweet love songs and autobiographical daydreams..."

CMJ (12/29/03, p.4) - Ranked #2 in CMJ's "Top 10 of 2003"

Mojo (Publisher) (5/03, p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...GIVE UP is anything but a pop oddity - it's the real thing..."