The Postal Service - Such Great Heights - CD (2003)

Labels: Sub Pop
Review by: Andy Malcolm

This band is ex-Strictly Ballroom! Check out their LP, emo fiends. And yes, I am fully aware that this band will be ‘hyped’ as having a member of a good indie rock band but this is Collective, so what do you expect?

Ok, Postal Service is like the Pet Shop Boys (approved by Collective’s very own Nadia on these pages not so long ago!) crossed with They Might Be Giants. It’s pleasant fizz-pop indie/electronica with pleasantly sung vocals and quick beats. It’s all very nice and bouncy, and it is not really that much unlike affore-unmentioned good indie rock band playing one of their songs with loads of bits that goes fzzzzt-click, and speeded up a notch. Supposedly Jen Wood sings backups on this, but I never noticed. The second song is much slower and more laidback, it’s also very nice. The Postal Service play two tracks, and one of them is going to be on the album. Check this out if you want to find out if you are going to like that album or not. I can tell you now that I am gonna buy it.

There are 2 other tracks which are ‘interpretations’ of Postal Service songs by other quality Subpop bands. The Shins go first and they play a really nice acoustic number. Then we have the awesome Iron & Wine (GET HIS ALBUM YOU DOOF!) doing his brittle acousti-country-folk thing in quite the perfect manner. God this dude is amazing.

Spot on CD really as it’s:

a) a quality introduction to the Postal Service
b) gives you a decent Shins track
c) gives you an amazing Iron & Wine track

woot.