Spring fever was in the air on Saturday night at The Bowery Ballroom and the laptop-indie rock supergroup The Postal Service would be the perfect soundtrack. The Postal Service is Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) and Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, and for the last couple of months they have delighted many with their debut album Give Up. The record showers listeners with soft, poppy vocals, courtesy of Ben and Jenny, set to Jimmy’s laptop beats. The combination of sounds is refreshing and for fans of Death Cab For Cutie, something more upbeat and, well, happy. While the lyrics still dive in and out of the throes of relationships, the beats are crisp, and the harmonies are sweet.
The group took the stage at the stroke of Midnight to an anxious crowd.
The opening beats of “The District Sleeps Along Tonight” came on to a pulsating rainbow visual that covered the backdrop of the stage. The set, like the record, was short and sweet. The songs, however, came alive and expanded from their original forms. Ben and Jenny exchanged vocals duties, coming together at moments to harmonize in pure sweetness. Ben kept things energetic, providing guitar layers and even jumping on the drums to further the jam and whip the crowd into a dance-frenzy. Before I knew it the set came to an end but not without one more surprise – a cover of Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now).” The cover provided a perfect send-off for what was an overall impressive set. I have to admit I was unsure of how The Postal Service would be pulled off live after seeing many a boring laptop show but the charisma and playfulness of Ben and Jenny gave the songs personality and brought them to life. Give Up has been a bright spot during this dreary spring, and on Saturday night there was nothing but sunny sounds emanating from The BoweryÖ
