Courtesy of postalservicemusic.net
On June 14th, I will see something I have only been able to fantasize about for 10 years, give or take. On June 14th, I will realize many a fourteen-year-old Jasel’s wet dream. On June 14th, I will see the “Postal Service” live at the Barclays Center.
Although I know that a large section of this post’s audience might strain to relate to my elation, an equally large core of passionate “Postal Service” devotees are presently squirming with as much, if not more, delight. This is the same audience that might entertain and even reciprocate my musings about “A Tattered Line of String,” the band’s latest single released on Feb. 11.
The new track is going to be included in the band’s Give Up reissue on April 9, and it seems to indicate a somewhat chipper departure from the melodramatic bleeps and bloops that amassed the devotion we succumbed to when the album originally debuted in February of 2003. Perhaps it’s a case of rose-colored glasses, or evidence for the direct relationship between the time spent with a piece of music and the intensity of the glorification that it garners (it has been about a decade, after all). Still, I urge my fellow “Postal Service” fans to give the song a couple of listen-throughs and see if they aren’t somewhat unnerved by its peculiar lack of melancholy.
The Postal Service (L to R): Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello. Courtesy of Sup Pop.
Ironically, the single seems to adopt the particularly danceable brand of electro-pop that has flourished in recent years, developed by acts that Give Up undoubtedly inspired. The new direction the band’s sound is embarking on (if the new single is indeed an indication of one) is almost evidence of some cultural self-fulfilling prophecy, where trailblazers inevitably follow the very trails they blaze.
However, if the band’s newfound optimism is any measurement of their moods in their personal lives, then I hope that my fellow “Postal Service” groupies will ultimately support the group’s pursuit of happiness, personal and musical. If anything, we can just chalk it up to another case of Gibbard Syndrome—Ben Gibbard, the lead singer and main songwriter of both the “Postal Service” and Death Cab for Cutie, has a gift (or curse) for writing exceptionally excellent sad songs. They’re so good, many fans secretly cherish any misfortune that may come his way (e.g., Zooey Deschanel, whom he recently divorced).
Courtesy of Willie Davis of The New York Times.
Does this mean that I won’t purchase a new “Postal Service” record if one’s released? Of course not. Will my fourteen-year-old-fantasy-come-true concert experience this summer be tarnished? No, not even slightly.
Bring it on Barclays.
