Ryan Pangilinan
Over six years after the Postal Service’s debut, the music produced by Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello is still influencing new jacks like Adam Young, who takes the stage name Owl City.
Owl City’s been there, done that album, Ocean Eyes, rips several pages off from Gibbard’s illustrious career as one of indie rock’s most revered songwriters. Yet, instead of challenging listeners, Owl City’s quasi-posi lyricism rests on his ambition to be the Christian version of the Postal Service, which comes off as cheesy and imitative.
The stale-sounding “Hello Seattle” contains the following words (best read with a deadpan delivery): “Hello Seattle, I am an old lighthouse, throwing beams of bright light.”
Well, what else is a lighthouse supposed to do, dummy?
The vocoder and Auto-Tune effects used on Young’s voice make him sound like a weird hybrid between Forrest Kline from hellogoodbye, T-Pain, and Roger Troutman… but, y’know… not as good.
There’s also the repetition between tracks like “Cave In” and “The Tip of the Iceberg,” which both utilize the same drum loop, as if an intelligent listener wouldn’t be able to distinguish between the two in the 20 minutes that elapses between them.
All in all, I found Ocean Eyes to be a bland rip-off of the latter-era works of Ben Gibbard, minus the honesty or literary references. While Death Cab and Postal Service are good bands to take influence from, the fact that Ocean Eyes is a by-the-numbers imitation is downright chilling — not to mention, insulting.
But, there’s very little that could be said to deter people from buying this rubbish. It’s just lowest common denominator enough to appeal to the person with the blandest of tastes and who still listens to the Garden State soundtrack five years after the fact.
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Navi Esparza
Jake Renn
Vee Hua 華婷婷
this cd is dumb. my friends told me about it and it totally sounded like postal service, which wasn’t that good anyway.
melody is melody buddy, get used to it, it’s what people want. there’s also nothing wrong with listening to a CD five years after the fact if you like it. your review sounds extremely defensive which makes me think you don’t have enough distance from this to give it an honest review.
Owl city sounds awesome and people are going to listen to them no matter who they sound like, to each his own. How is it any diff than every rapper who comes out with a “new” song? They all sound the same and no one calls them knockoffs.
actually, many people DO call those rappers knock-offs, and many of them are in fact horrible!
Haha… I work at a noncommercial radio station where Death Cab and The Postal Service are banned (on account of being too popular), and the first thing everyone says is, “This sounds like the Postal Service.”
While it’s definitely not the most original thing ever created, it’s okay to listen to in small doses. But I suppose we’re all doing quality control at base level, trying, desperately, to keep these people out of the mainstream.
uuuhmmmm…
Ok, first. I don’t know how you can say Owl City is a rip-off Postal Service. They sound completely different. Just because they’re both electronic doesn’t mean they’re the same… I think Owl City is highly original. I’ve never heard anything like it.
Second. I think Adam’s lyrics area fantastic. They’re pure poetry. Well duh light house shines light, but it’s how he says it that makes it beautiful. That’s what poetry is.
Third. I like how adam voice sounds with the effects. I think it’s done in a tasteful way, it’s not overdone, and you can actually tell that he can sing (unlike most auto-tune users… ahem T-Pain). But i CAN understand how some people wouldn’t like it.
Fourth. Maybe I missed it… but i didn’t hear any repetition of drums between the two tracks. Just because they have the same beat doesn’t mean they’re the same drums. They’re ARE differences between them.
Overall. This Album is creative and Original. To say otherwise is a lie. Now I’m not saying everyone should like this music, everyone has their own tastes, but don’t rip on it for STUPID reasons because you don’t like it ……. or fail to have any musical taste ; )
maybe you need to turn the music up a little because owl city sounds almost identical to the postal service with crappy lyrics. dont get me wrong im not saying every song needs to be the most heartfelt thing youve ever written but ive heard of a few of their songs now, not having any idea of the artist and was 100% convinced it was the postal service, it is FAR from original
If you like this, you’re probably 15 years old and your favorite band is Cobra Starship. Hey kid, listen to some real bands like Fugazi or Q and Not U. My little sister CD liked this CD, then I gave her the first Death Cab album and she returned this shit to the store. Fuck Owl City.
This is a terrible and harsh review.
Adam Young is an inspiration.
Don’t bash on him if you aren’t going to bash on other bands that sound like the postal service as well.
If your going to unfairly judge Owl city like this, expect angry fans to slam you.
i love how balanced these comments are! it seems he’s equally hated as he is loved. hahahahha.
ok, first of all i dig this single… untill i realized it wasnt ben gibbard…mark (who commented below) is a fucking retard for thinking this doesnt sound EXACTLY like the postal service…if you dont realize this guy is blatantly ripping off postal service then you have no ears and i pity you…..P.S. fuck you and everything you stand for
finally listened to this dude and i definitely don’t think he sounds EXACTLY like postal service… a bit too light. nonetheless, it seems obvious that postal service were an influence… but fine, i can see maybe why some people would like owl city’s cheezy ass.
but to say, “I don’t know how you can say Owl City is a rip-off Postal Service. They sound completely different. Just because they’re both electronic doesn’t mean they’re the same… I think Owl City is highly original. I’ve never heard anything like it.”
COMPLETELY different? that’s a bit of a stretch. you’ve never heard ANYTHING like it? THAT is just sheer insanity. any way you swing it — comparisons to postal service or not — that is just ridiculous. it’s damn near possible to make ANYTHING sound original these days, much less pop music. never hearing anything as poppy as this = you like, never listen to music.
There way better than Postal Service. Postal Service is a cheap rip off of Owl City. Now look who is more popular
Owl City has way more technical loops and synths. It is insane how many sounds are stacked. I am a Postal Service fan but I would have to say Owl City did a better job.
Yeah the lyrics are simple but they are fun. Perfect for younger listers. Owl city is starting to pick up big time. Postal Service…meh.
Anyone who doesn’t hear a total rip-off of postal service in owl city must be deaf. Are you serious? The imitation in his vocals is what really bothers me the most. Whiny little fraud. Meaningless lyrics. Unbelievable. Electro Indie is one thing but this is something else. I get really angry when I hear him sing. Saying he’s better than postal service now that’s just plain retarded with a capital R. My blood boils when I read good things about him. Sure maybe he has musical talent but zero creativity of his own. Have fun listening to your knock-off versace bag, parrot mimic one of the most influential indie albums of all time. Sorry if I sound like a bitter old man, but I had to get that off my chest.
okay here we go guys. both sides are idiots okay. support for original owl city, personally, i think he sounds great and is good for keeping you in a good mood and the lyrics are highly poetical in the way he fits them together. however there is no doubt that he shares a similarity to the postal service. i dont like postal service as much, but there is a large similarity in music style to that of owl city. now back on the side of owl city, u cant condemn someone for sounding like someone else, hell over 80% of singers sound like someone else, there is no way you can hate someone for that, and adam does a good job of trying to make his music sound unique. im not saying that owl city is better than postal service either though, its just that owl city fits the growing curve of music in young adult ears and postal service is more fitting for older people who were there to witness the debut of postal service. people who are 100% against owl city you are just plain wrong, and those of you 100% for owl city, well you are wrong also. he is not at either extremity but rather somewhere inbetween, and i believe the scale is slightly tipped in favor of owl city. so whoever else posts please dont make it some mindless drivel without considering both sides of the argument or u will look like a dumbass for sharing a one sided argument.
for instance. bam you are a dumbass. if u cant hear the difference you must be deaf. all rappers sound similar but i can hear the uniqueness in each one, so its your fault if you cant hear the difference based on your own bias to a situation, and you cant blame anybody else if you cant even control yourself. “COMPLETELY different? that’s a bit of a stretch. you’ve never heard ANYTHING like it? THAT is just sheer insanity. any way you swing it — comparisons to postal service or not — that is just ridiculous. it’s damn near possible to make ANYTHING sound original these days, much less pop music. never hearing anything as poppy as this = you like, never listen to music.”; okay so you just stated this, however you just condemned owl city for sounding like postal service. if you just admitted that its hard to find anything original then how can you put down just one band when many are guilty of your so called ‘fraud’. and you know a lot of people actually like artists that have a similar tone… normally there isnt a huge debate over who is a rip off of whoever. seriously, some of you guys are just idiots.
haha, apparently you cannot read 3okay, because you quoted numerous (i think three?) different people in your second response thinking they were different people.
3okay or should i say dumbass, yeah I can hear the difference. Owl city sucks and postal service doesn’t. His writing is for teenage girls. And yes many people do sound the same, but postal service is such a unique style that the rip-off his so plainly obvious in this case. And, yes there are rappers I despise too for being un-original. It’s not the fact that he copied the music style, to be inspired by something is a lot different than attempting to make something that sounds exactly the same. Guess it doesn’t matter though cause idiots like you believe he’s good so he makes a lot of money and he wins.
I got so excited when I first heard Fireflies on the radio because I thought I missed the Postal Service finally giving everyone what they want with a new album. I’ve got to say, it’s not quite as good, but if we can’t get new Postal Service I’ll take the off-brand. Really don’t care if it’s a “rip-off” since TPS won’t put more music out there.
Owl City’s music makes me want to punch babies and drown kittens…. If you hate owl city based on his music, you should check out his facebook page. Total p*ssy with hint of creeper.
Quote from Him- “A lot of people liken Owl City to The Postal Service, and while that was never the intention or the initial concept of the project, I’m totally honored. I couldn’t be more excited to see how big the realm of electronic music eventually becomes.” He shouldn’t be ‘honored’ since ‘liken’ is meant more as a derogative. The timbre, articulation and melodic choice is spot-on Ben Gibbard offensively such, perhaps slightly thinner and sheened from over-production with more obvious and cutesy lyrics. I’ll spare going into the tempo, dynamic, structures and textures but suffice to say; This is the Postal Service in every way.
Even look at the oddities in the tracklisting alone;
– ‘Hello Seattle’ (where Ben Gibbard lives)
– ‘Umbrella Beach’ (Umbrella was a song from ‘Life is full of possibilities’ where Postal Service started via ‘This is the Dream…’
– Even ‘Dental care’ at a glance looks and sounds like Dntel.
Does he know how ‘big the realm of electronic music’ is because this is just plain stealing, marketing, promoting and cashing in on a dishonest musical personality. But the kids don’t care, they’re still faking it too.
… Surprise! Surprise! Didn’t know his first single release was called, ‘Maybe I’m Dreaming’ close enough to the First unofficial Postal Service Song Title; ‘ The Is The Dream of Evan And Chan’ Mentioned in tracklisting coincidences above. Ugh!
Thank you XZ. I appreciate the detailed comment with examples. He’s a fraud and quite frankly it really upsets me. Not fair to other musicians who have the integrity not to do the same thing. It’s just not cool – breaking the rules in a classless way. Like sleeping with your best friend’s girlfriend or something. Maybe he just doesn’t know any better. There are a million artists out there that could just bite the postal service too but choose not to out of respect for the art and artist.
Dear Owl City Fans, You poor lost souls…I understand how difficult it must be to live in an age where orginality is the last thing your “musicians” are vying for. I pity you, the desperate and tone deaf, for having only this pathetic knock off to look up to when we 20-somethings were honored with Postal Service- a band and an album that some say defined our generation. Like many others i too was deeply angered, seething- i would say, when i first heard this phony-flash-in-the-pan moron was getting even the slightest amount of recognition for what he should have been sued for. But there has to be someone to comfort the emotionally weak,the lonely depraved teenager- to sing them out of scraping up their wrists with a paper clip because that super cute boy at school like totally twittered some lame gossip about them that so wasn’t true. I get it, go cry into a pair of skinny jeans and put that Owl City album on repeat. And when your done you can totally fbook the lead singer and tell him how cute his sweater is. Yeah, that’ll show them all.
I mistakenly bought this album after hearing “Fireflies” on the radio. I assumed this was a new Postal Service album, or at least a spinoff from some of the band members. Then I realize it’s just a knock-off from some Christian dude (I guess I glossed over that section in the bible where it’s OK to blatantly rip off other folks’ music to make a buck). I have to agree with bam — Owl City is a cheap knock off, which seems to be de rigeur these days on the contemporary music scene. Sheesh, people, come up with your own style. After all, aren’t you supposed to be inspired by God? Is a knock off the best the big guy has to offer? Really?
I will come back to this page just to read the comments because they are hilarious. I am a producer and have been writing synth music for 17 years. My review is as follows:
1. This guy is hugely influenced by the Postal Service, but happier and with more auto-tune
2. Owl City does know how to program synths and is good at vocal effects, so even if it’s a copy he knows musically what he is doing (which also leads me to believe he studied the Postal Service).
3. I almost blame the Postal Service for this since they have not done a new album.
4. Owl City makes my life easier because happy music must be okay to do again (I haven’t felt comfortable doing happy music since 1988).
One last comment:
There is no real way to know if this guys voice is better than Ben since this guy uses auto-tune. Auto-tune makes it impossible to do a true comparison. I’m not saying it’s bad to use auto-tune, I am just saying it makes it impossible to tell if he has better pitch than anyone else.
Owl city blows, dude is a FUCKIN’ HACK. Good for whats his name for getting famous off ur dumb asses but its still frustrating to watch some pussy completely emulate another artist and then become more successful. Wheres the justice in this industry? (from vanilla twilight by Owl City)… “the spaces between my fingers is right where yours fit perfectly” ? come on! first off all that is just about the most boring way you could express that, but also it is just a dumbed down version of a postal service line (from such great heights)… “the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they’re perfectly aligned” its got the same message practically the same imagery but he ingeniously changed the body part and left out all creativity. come on people boycott this piece of shit. OWL CITY STINKS
i listened to the songs on myspace and i was completely shocked. this…..guy……is……trying…..to……be……..POSTAL SERVICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shame shame shame
You people are stupid. The best comment on here is from 3okay. Just because they are similar doesnt mean he is a fraud. his music is good. Postal Service music is good. they are similar. HIs lyrics are inspired by his insomnia, which makes it unique!! And whatever people say, he has good melody, and if you stop concentrating on the similarities and disliking it and just listen, i think a lot of these people would like his music. You don’t have to like the artist’s ways to like his music. a song really shouldn’t make people so angry. if it’s so bad, just don’t listen to it. youre not impressing people by writing how much you hate it when you could be doing something much more useful
IT REMINDS ME OF JACK’S MANNEQUIN!
how come you’re all sooooooo ignorant? all of you….?…. it’s quite amazing. all of you should hold hands while jumping into the grand canyon…. seriously…. you’re all fucking idiots.
Fuck owl city. I heated ‘fireflys’ on the radio and it sucked cock. worse band ever.
Fuck The Postal Service, they ripped of Death Cab.
but honestly, Owl City is just a cheesy version of Postal Service.
Still, most of you people sound like you’re afraid he’s some kind of threat to good music. These kind of bands have always existed. Postal Service will last.
I mean he doesn’t JUST sound like the postal service. Ever hear Hellogoodbye or The Format? It’s that whole style too. A lot of music sounds the same so get over it. All you smart people with impeccable taste shouldn’t care just live and let live.
Postal Service is Death Cab they can’t have ripped it off. Anoo, everyone is ignorant? Because we’re arguing? because we like it? Don’t like it? So all of us haters and lovers of owl city should just commit mass suicide. Great image obviously, but I don’t get it. It’s fun to anonymously dis each other on the internet. So we’re all just big losers that should die, you included because you also wrote hateful things on this wonderful comment area on a music review blog? Anyway I’ve got a lot of other comment areas to get to and people to hate on before the day’s done so I’m done wasting my time here.
How the fuck could the Postal Service rip off Owl City when Owl City didn’t even exist until 6 years later? Dumbass.
what the heck UNDEFINED… can you read? where does anyone say that the postal service ripped off owl city? isn’t it saying the opposite — that owl city ripped off the postal service — just about everywhere? W T F. mind-boggling, truly.
Redefine Fan 324 rated this an A on October 08, 2009:
There way better than Postal Service. Postal Service is a cheap rip off of Owl City. Now look who is more popular
redefine pound2 you are a fucktard. shut up
i don’t like owl city period, i believe the he is a huge knock off TPS, and is it just me, or are you guys finding his lyrics in songs you’ve already heard before just rephrased, expressed defferently?
This review is spot on. I thought the rating was a little harsh.
But you know the real reason why we don’t like this CD? it’s just the next generation’s music. We can easily see the flaws, but to the kids getting into it, this is their first exposure to this kind of music.
I’m sure there were people who looked at the postal service as a rip off the alternative/dance bands of the 80’s. they just didn’t get what we liked about it.
nd we just don’t get this!
Every band is a rip off of someone else….it is called INFLUENCES….anyone who uses that as a basis for a review is either:
A) A douch bag with no talent of their own.
B) Arrogant enough to think their opinion matters.
Hey Ryan:
When you and your buddies ALL start saying that you have to be different to be cool……you all actual become the SAME!! Think about that one you loser!!
No little billy it’s missing little things called “creativity” and “originality”. A rip-off is different than an influence. It’s like a thief vs. an apprentice. Duh!
First off:
LOL
LO fucking L.
I almost, almost thought I was going to give this band props for their catchy tune, and then, and then well I came to my senses. I also took notice of their blindly faithful fanbase. Not sounding like The Postal Service?
The first time I heard “Fireflies” on the radio all I thought to myself was: “Hmm, this is fucked up, this is definitely The Postal Service but why do they all of a sudden suck so bad lyrically.”
It’s not poetry, it’s called ear candy. And it sucks too. As for the melodies, I don’t care how many more Owl City stacked than TPS, it has no meaning, no real purpose, it’s just an attention catcher.
Point made.
I suppose secondly…
This is not a matter of disagreeing generations man. Sure Death Cab and TPS got inspiration from some bands somewhere, but they didn’t blatantly rip them off. AND EVEN HAD THEY, Death Cab and TPS had real purpose in their lyrics and intended to use strung together melodies to back up the tone, it wasn’t a dull compilation of garbage… such as Owl City
Oh god shitloads of diehard postal service fans in these posts. Owl City is pretty good, but most of the songs sound waay too similar and the lyrics can get stomach churning after too long.
Those of you saying he completely ripped off TPS is lol worthy though, a lot of you just sound angry at him for sounding similar and being popular.
ur all cock suckers. what the fuck about a mousetrap? owl citys mouse trap is worse tho but its catching more mice… wierd.
…dont be another mouse for the owl
I have listened (and loved) way to much The Postal Service song and my only attempt trying to listen to Owl City ended me in laughter, of the FUCKING BAD LYRICS, seriously? Can this guy write one logical sentence? fuuuuuuuuuck. TPC might be the only group I listen to for it’s lyrics and this Owl City guy just blows at that level. Also those beats are stolen y’all.. Oh and about that whole ‘new generation’ shit I’m 16 and I fucking hate this guy, it even came on Dutch radio and I had to step out of the shower to turn that fucking song off.
Owl city and postal service both suck but Owl City sucks waaaaaaay worse. Autotune is used when someone can’t sing….see? I love thEse varying opinions but I gotta agree with the people way say this guys a rip off…cuz he is…and if all the 15 year olds of the world want to defend this trash then I fear for our future….
I like own city! The postal service sounds ok, but his band Death cab for cutie is way better. Amazing poetic lyrics in song such a “i’ll follow you into the dark’ is pure art. Owl city has this happy, upbeat tecno thing that sound decent. His best song is “The saltwater room” which has little techno and a nice guitar intro. It also features some good female vocals that duets with young,
Owl City is a god damn rip off and not original. PURE CRAP.
My farts sound better than this pathetic sissy sounding bullshite. Its straight up torture listening to this crappola. F –
Thank you for pointing out the obvious about Owl City. I saw him live before they were big and was definitely underwhelmed. While his music is mediocre, the live performance is a joke. A laptop is not an instrument.
Owl City is like the Twilight of the music industry: Cheesy, overdone, yet somehow loved passionately by every soulless teenager I know.
yo. owl city is the shit fo real. his lyrics are uber-intelligent and his voice is like magic. you haters dont know a genius from a lump on ur testicle. i give this album an A- at worst! Ah skeet skeet.
I gave this an A because it seems to me that this guy is just pumping out garbage to make a bunch of money, which I can respect. I work 8 hours a day in an office, and I’m bored as hell. I’m about to go home and write some stupid bullshit music for high school girls and make a ton of cash. He better be joking, because this shit is hilarious. I mean, c’mon – 1,000 hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time. However, if this guy is being serious, and wants to be taken seriously as an artist, then this CD gets an F-. I can respect ripping off a bunch of little girls of their parents money, but I can’t respect this unless it’s a total joke. I think it is though; nobody sounds that much like a douche on purpose.
kudos to ben watson for funniest response so far.
Highly unoriginal yet frighteningly popular. I just checked this dumb-dumb out to see what all the fuss was about. Jeez Louise I really think Armageddon is coming if this shite is popular
No matter how much Adam Young denies that Postal Service/Ben Gibbard is not an influence to him, is bull crap. Stop denying kid. Definitely a ripp off but worthy of my ears.
owl city sucks the fact u have heard nothing like it is no reason to like it. owl city S U C K S A S S its a the postal service without talent.
I didn’t think electronic music could get any lamer than Postal Service until I heard Owl City. This crap makes Ben Gibbard look like a musical genius by comparison.
I don’t think people should make personal attacks at Adam Young because how many of us could ever compose anything like that?
I personally think he sounds good (it would be nice to hear a song without a vocoder effect though) ,is a great producer and has a fantastic piano playing style in the pieces throughout his music.
If you don’t like Owl City perhaps check out his other project Port Blue… It’s instrumental and very relaxing.
wow, originality is an endangered species in music these days. its nice to know that this guy has made his career off of other artists’ lack of prolificacy. oh well! the 2000’s suck anyways!
How the hell can someone say that his lyrics are original and poetic? they are idiotic and absolutely retarded.
“Cause I’d get a thousand hugs
From ten thousand lightening bugs
As they tried to teach me how to dance.
A foxtrot above my head,
A sock-hop beneath my bed,
The disco ball is just hanging by a thread.
who could consider that strong lyrics?