Live: The Postal Service, Brixton Academy, London
- Written by Robert Freeman
They said it would never happen but here it is - a bloody gig by The Postal Service! A sea of plaid and floral sways back and forth, but as neon columns to the rear of the stage light up the audience and a strobe begins to flash, one can't help but think it all seems a bit incongruous considering The Postal Service’s back catalogue.
Give Up is a bit emo for this super-club vibe, isn’t it? The band run onto the stage and Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard grabs the microphone. “Love…” announces Gibbard “it’s a bitch.” Oh wait there you go.
Phasers are set to sexy tonight at Brixton Academy though, as black-shirted Ben Gibbard bounds onstage with his guitar while winsome black-dressed Jenny Lewis harmonises through her fringe and Jimmy 'wreathed in shadow' Tamborello bobs about at the back of the stage tapping a laptop. It’s not uncommon for the word ‘twee’ to be bandied about in relation to this band, but despite multiple 'ba ba ba baaa's and 'baaaaaaaa baaaaaaaaaa baaaaaaaaaa's, watching The Postal Service play live it really is impossible not to have an absolutely cracking time. The oft-derided saccharine of Gibbard's lyrics on Give Up is rendered entirely endearing by the wit and fun of this charming band bouncing around to a beat. Even the staunchest music fascist would struggle to dislike a Postal Service gig. Come on guys, it’d be like kicking a little emo puppy right in the nuts! While he's having a dance! It ain’t Kraftwerk, but it’s a lovely bit of pop music.
A decade ago this year, emo pups Jimmy ‘DNTL’ Tamborello and Ben Gibbard teamed up with Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis via the magic of the US Mail service to record Give Up, and after the recent reissue of Sub Pop’s biggest selling LP to date, the band have got together to have a bit of a knees-up round Europe and the U.S. to celebrate. In its live incarnation the delicate keys and guitar are still present, but the drum set comes out and the electronic pops and thuds get turned up a few notches. More than a few notches in fact - it feels a bit like someone smuggled Skrillex into an indie club.
The fittings are rattling at Brixton Academy, but despite Tambo’s insistence on cranking the drums up to twelve-million, Ben Gibbard’s dancing and Jenny Lewis’ dulcet tones neatly counterbalance the banging to produce a live experience one might describe as ‘very pleasant indeed’. From the keyboard get-go of ‘The District Sleeps Alone Tonight’ the crowd proceed to go absolutely (but politely) batshit. It all gets a bit Nelly/Kelly during duet ‘Nothing Better’ as Gibbo hops about like an emo-leprechaun, while sassy old Jenny Lewis stands with her hands on her hips telling him off before hopping on the drums for a Beat Happening cover.
New material, guys? Probably not. The band work their way through the 44 minutes of their only album and the three extra songs on the 'Deluxe Anniversary edition' of Give Up but that’s it. Despite the questionable decision to encore with DnB-tinged psych-wreckage, ‘Natural Anthem’, it’s a smashing night, and as all the back-packed boys and be-fringed girls jostle about leaving the venue, the audience’s mood is euphoric to say the least.