The Postal Service is Death Cab For Cutie’s Benjamin Gibbard and Dntel, aka Jimmy Tamborello, with Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis. They came together for the Postal project in 2003, with Gibbard and Tamborello swapping tapes in the mail to make Give Up, an astounding album, the success of which outdid all of their respective day jobs. Then they departed. It was a one-off, no follow-up, no more shows. ‘Til now.
The trio have seen fit to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Give Up by re-releasing the album with a smattering of new tracks, off-cuts and studio side bits. A perfect reason to revisit this indie-pop classic.
More to the point, though, they are taking the album out on the road for a series of shows in the US (they stunned at Coachella) and here in Europe. The first show at Brixton Academy sold out in minutes, with a second selling just as strongly. They could have played a week here and still found long-faced fans walking the street outside looking for generous touts to share a ticket for less than a hundred quid.
Both continued in their former bands. Gibbard’s Death Cab released four more albums and became an indie rock institution. Meanwhile, Tamborello experimented with all kinds of electronica on three following Dntel LPs and collaborated with a variety of other artists (Bright Eyes, Grizzly Bear) on remixes and other projects.
It is the opening chords of singles such as Such Great Heights, Against All Odds and new track A Tattered Line Of String that people will cram into this legendary Brixton hall to hear. Not many gigs are one-offs, really. These are. Be there and enjoy.
Brixton Academy, SW9 9SL
Sun, May 19 & Mon, may 20 | Doors at 7pm | £25+
Tube | Brixton
o2academybrixton.co.uk
