The Postal Service 由 Ben Gibbard 和 Jimmy Tamborello 组成,前者来自 indie 摇滚乐团 Death Cab for Cutie,后者来自电音组合 Dntel,他们最初各自把造好的音乐录在 CD 再邮寄给对方,让对方修饰,整张 Give Up 就是这样一来一回制作出来,而组合名称 The Postal Service 亦由此而来。"Give Up" 是一张前年出版的专辑,其中" Such Great Heights"很有 80 年代 pop 的风格。细听整张专辑都充满了 retro 味道,但又不失现时的电音和 indie 风格。Gibbard 和 Tamborello 原属的乐团的音乐风格较为实验性,当他们碰在一起制作 "Give Up",能在 pop 和实验风格取得平衡,于是便有了这张易听又不过于庸俗的专辑。专辑以 downtempo 和 breakbeat 节奏作基础,配以不同的电音编排和混音变化,表现一种很轻很浮的节奏感,而又不过于晦涩。歌词偶而胡思乱想,偶而梦幻般远离现实,Gibbard 的演绎更加强了这种感觉。Such Great Heights 以电子合成器左右来回的单音开始,轻快的节拍吸引听者想继续听下去,背景渐以舞曲节奏覆盖,唱者跟随节奏演唱和混音配合很好,是一首很快让听者受落的作品。"Sleeping In "歌词简单却让人深思,「no concerns about the world getting warmer / people thought that they were just being rewarded / ... / now we can swim any day in November」。"Nothing Better" 男女一来一往对唱,搭配得很有趣,客席演出的 Jen Wood 温柔的声线,感觉很清新,不过因为结尾男被女拒绝而令人感到无奈。"We Will Become Silhouettes" 编排和节奏颇像 "Such Great Heights",organ 跟 glitches 碰撞,胡思乱思的歌词,不过结尾琴键主旋律配以其它乐器合奏,还有 Jenny Lewis 的 backing vocals,很丰富的感觉,听上去又是另一番味道。专辑以 "Natural Anthem" 作结,跟其它作品风格非常不同,电音实验味较浓,很长的前奏,bass 和鼓牵动强烈节拍,可是又加上了不协调的弦乐,非常精采。作者以这首作品总结,减低了对整张专辑易听的印象,仿佛像伏线提醒听者等他们再弄点很不同的作品出来。by Heather PharesNamed for the way they traded sounds and ideas, the Postal Service is an electronica-meets-indie rock supergroup featuring Jimmy Tamborello (of Dntel and Figurine), and Death Cab for Cuties Ben Gibbard; Rilo Kileys Jenny Lewis, and former Tattle Tale and solo artist Jen Wood provide backing vocals. Tamborello and Gibbard first worked together on the title track of Dntels This Is the Dream of Evan and Chan EP; from there, the duo continued to collaborate via mail, with Tamborello sending electronic pieces and Gibbard adding guitars, vocals, and lyrics. The result, Give Up, were released in early 2003 by Sub Pop.