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The Postal Service is an indie rock electropop band featuring singer Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and producer Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel. Several songs on their first LP, Give Up, feature guest vocals from Jenny Lewis, the lead singer of Rilo Kiley, a band which was once on the same label as Death Cab (Barsuk Records) and vocals from Jen Wood, an indie rock solo artist. Chris Walla is often forgotten but he makes up for his lack of fame with his abilities on guitar, drums, and keyboard.

Overview

The way in which the group combines mechanical backing tracks with poppy hooks is somewhat reminiscent of 1980s new wave music. The group formed after Gibbard contributed vocals for a song on Dntel's album Life is Full of Possibilities called "This Is The Dream Of Evan And Chan." This song sparked an EP of remixes by other artists, such as Lali Puna, Safety Scissors, Barbara Morgenstern and Superpritcher, and was so well received that the two artists decided that further collaboration was in order.

Their name comes from the manner in which their songs were written, due to the fact that the two of them lived too far away to easily work together in person. Tamborello would create beats and mail them to singer and lyricist Gibbard, who would then edit them and put his melodies and lyrics over the tracks and mail them back.

Despite the fact that their main bands are still active, The Postal Service has supported their full-length album Give Up with a successful concert tour and has stated intentions to tour more in the future. The album is the second largest seller ever for the Sub Pop label, after Nirvana's debut album Bleach.

In 2004, the United States Postal Service sent the band a cease and desist letter citing their trademark on the phrase "postal service". After negotiations, the USPS relented, allowing the band use of the trademark in exchange for promotional efforts on behalf of the USPS and a performance at their annual National Executive Conference.