In an interview with EW, Adam Young (aka laptop sensation Owl City) admits his no. 1 single “Fireflies” and the Postal Service in general “are pretty similar,” but at the same time claims he’s “a lot more of a Death Cab fan.” For example, he’d only heard Give Up “a little bit” before people started pointing out the pilfering:
I’ve become more of a fan having started Owl City, actually. I had some friends in high school that would have it playing in their cars and stuff. It was cool, but it never really caught my ear. It’s kind of ironic, looking back at it, because a lot of people do relate the two projects. I can totally see it now, but I didn’t really then, for what it’s worth.
It’s worth a lot, now that you’ve sold over 100,000 fireflies. There’s more. In the form of an unintentional punchline. (Speaking of which, yes, that’s real merch pictured above. Real sad merch.)
Via EW:
EW: A lot of people wish they would put out another album. Is that something you would look forward to hearing?
ADAM YOUNG: I think [Give Up] left everyone asking, “What are they going to do next?” Since no one has done anything quite like it, it’s almost like everyone is naturally saying this is the next step — maybe that’s me, maybe that’s this record.
Maybe.
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The Dream of Evan and Chan was Dntel not Postal Service you fucking idiot.
“everything is never as it seems”
thing that distinguished postal service in my mind was that, aside from being catchy fun electro-pop, ben gibbard (whatever you may think of him) is a solid storyteller who has always written decent, if not thought provoking, lyrics. “everything is never as it seems / dreams / bursting at seams” may bear a lot of similarity to “sleeping in”, except that “everything is never as it seems” is not actually a sentence. far as i can tell from one listen, the rest of the lyrics are equally rotten, little-girl baiting cat shit.
so i’d say, let them run with it. it’s probably a good thing. chances are, a legion of twelve year olds are going to buy (steal) this record, and their older siblings are just going to walk into the room, tell them to turn it the fuck off, and download a copy of “give up” for them instead. by the time they’re all fourteen, they’ll still be listening to “give up”, and will feel suicidally ashamed for having ever listened to this festering cutesy pile of dumbass.
i have not read every single post, but i did read the first 3rd at least. so if i am echoing something someone already said, sorry.
when i saw the headline that says that this guy “pretty much admits” to “ripping off” the postal service, i wanted to see what he had to say……..maybe i am reading it wrong, but he did not really admit to “ripping them off”. sounds to me like he is obviously aware of the fact that the song sounds like something postal service WOULD make. this is not like vanilla ice trying to tell us that the “sample” from “ice ice baby” is “totally different” than the bowie/mercury song……i mean the music sounds like tamborello and obviously the guy’s voice sounds just like gibbard’s, but unless there is a postal service song i dont know about, (which is entirely possible) i only have heard “give up”….i have heard no b-sides or remixes or movie soundtrack type things that may or may not exist. it is not taking a song of the postal service’s and slapping a new name on it. Sure, they are copying the sound which happens in all forms of art and in business too. difference is, in the business world, people dont care what you call them as long as they make money. and so the two worlds crash together. again. art and commerce. artists want us to think that they dont care what people think about them as long as they are creating what they want and are “happy” with themselves and business people dont care what you call them as long as they make money. in fact, it seems to me that both sides tend to revel in the negative stereotypes associated with being part of that group. artist example: the artists who we all know at least one of that does not shower, has no car, no money, and seems almost proud of this…..an example of the business side: i work in an office that has a “sales floor” that is very busy. the salesmen are selling a specific commodity. these are guys that call themselves “whores” PROUDLY…..sarcastically meaning that they would do anything (even have sex with people they didnt know) to make money…..both types of people derive happiness from different things. the people who love money are no less happy than those who make art, generally speaking.
perhaps, owl city guy is a mixture of both groups. maybe he is just a business man looking to cash in. i dont know…..but it looks like he saw an opportunity, grabbed it, and executed it perfectly. i dont know what label he is on, or how much money he has generated for himself here…but he has moved 100k units and is getting spins of radio disney!? jeez! somebody is making money off of this song……while the “artist minded group of people” (which would be us here on indie music blogs) see this as despicable, the “business minded group of people” (i am sure there are SOME of us here too. i mean, at least some of us who like to think that we straddle the line, anyway) from a purely business perspective, they see it as genius. think about it…..while people froth at the mouth for more postal service even though another postal service record seems unlikely at this point (as far as I have heard anyway)…..this guy thinks, “hey, my voice sounds like gibbard’s. i just got a new macbook (a macintosh laptop is all ya need ya know!) i can do that!……and he did do it. blatantly. and most of you are upset about that. i just dont understand why it bugs you so much……if i met him, i would say, “congrats, man! i fucking hate your song, but do not let that stop you. in fact, make more! it drives people up the wall! and that is way more funny than your song is bad.” it is really not that fucking bad guys…….
also, by “ripping off” you mean he made a song that sounds a whole lot like the postal service. i guess it is just semantics at this point, but i take ripping off to mean stealing. is he stealing the sound that is rightfully the postal service’s? or is he just using the sound unfailrly? (like the way the postal service “stole” they’re name from the United States Postal Service?) be honest…. if the “fireflies” song was included on “give up” would you even bat an eye? i truly believe that the song would not as popular as it is (or as “such great heights” even) and that the song would barely be mentioned aside from a pitchfork reviewer either giving them a hard time for the cheesy lyrics, or praising him for making a “fun, pop song”…..i mean, are you telling me that gibbard would not sing about fucking fireflies? yeah right. he sings about the fucking “freckles in our eyes” i dont have freckles in my eyes. nor does anyone. (that i know of). it is a stupid line, but who cares?
anyway, yeah. the owl city song sucks. but the fact that this post is well on its way to 150 comments just reminds of some appropriate words from jay-z:
“young-uns ice grilling me,
oh!……you not feeling me?
Fine; it cost you nothing.
Pay me no mind”
Ignore the guy. Fuck. Is it really that bad? I would imagine hardly any of you listen to the radio anyway. It will be gone soon enough, only to be replaced with something that in all likely hood will be much fucking worse.
ALL of that said, there is the issue of that adult one-sie. please tell me that someone here works for that merch company and that somebody ordered the one that is big enough for 6′ and 210 lbs. PLEASE!…..the fact that there is someone out there of that size wearing that thing should give us all hope that the music industry still has a chance!
Heystephen, please shut up, your only convincing yourself.
i vote to hang heystephen in a onesie like a pinata and beat him til he realizes what a waste of time his comment was.
a waste of time in the existential sense? yeah. you are right. i proved nothing. nobody is going to see it, in the end it makes no difference. 20 min. i will never get back…… however, i did do it @ work, so i was being paid. most of us do something we wouldnt be doing if we were not being paid, so when put in the context where you consider what i would have been doing otherwise, those were generally 20 enjoyable minutes and not a waste by any means…..i guess it is all comes down to what context you put it in……..HEY! almost like if this were a postal service song, note for note, lyric for lyric, nobody says a word about it………
Get it? He didn’t like the Postal Service in high school, and now he tries to sound like them. You know, IRONY.
is anyone reading what the fucking guy said?
he said that in high school he heard the album and thought that it was cool, but it “never caught his ear.” now he makes music that sounds just like the postal service. yes, he says it is ironic, but he seems to have the same understanding of the word as you do.
it would be ironic if he said, “i heard it in high school and i fucking hated it!…..but now i make a lot of money by doing my best impersonation.”
so yeah. I do know what irony means. not so sure you do though.
it pisses people off when the general public embraces bands like coldplay and owl city and they become wildly popular. when there direct influences (ripoffs) radiohead and postal service are far superior.
Alright, so I haven’t ever heard this song before until just this moment. In fact, it’s still playing as I write this. When I clicked the play button the only thing I knew about this band was what I had read from the comments (always taken with a grain of salt) and that this is NOT The Postal Service.
My absolute first, visceral reaction was that if someone had not told me this wasn’t Postal Service, I wouldn’t have known. Like if this came on the radio I would’ve just thought it was Postal Service. As the song progressed the fact that it was a blatant ripoff and a substance-less peace of crap set in. Honestly, it’s like this dude wasn’t even trying.
Also: Owl City Onesy? LAWLZ
I really don’t get what all the fuss is about. So a guy recognized a demand for a certain style of music made popular (NOT invented) by the Postal Service, and so the guy capitalizes on the opportunity. So what? So its not as good as TPS and I’m not much of fan of the sound, but once again – who cares? The Postal Service stopped meeting that demand, so why shouldn’t this guy step in and give it a shot?
I dare any of the haters on this site to name an artist that wasn’t influenced by the sound of band/artist before them. Once in a great while a band will come around with a truly unique sound, but even they are merely building off the work of artists before them. Welcome to the history of music folks. Here’s a quote from eMusic along these same lines:
“It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it’s not. It’s the very nature of music ? of art, even.”
Electric President is the best Postal Service-type band that isn’t The Postal Service, guys.
OH MY GOODNESS. Is this a Christian band? I’m cracking up. this song. Of course it comes on Radio Disney! It sounds like it was made FOR Radio Disney. I’m going to move on from this artist now. He got my three minutes. That’s sufficient.
shut up? it is a message board. maybe i am mistaken. i thought the whole point of these things were to encourage discussion?
only convincing myself? yes. you are right about that. i highly doubt i did, nor was it my intention to “convince” anybody of anything. i dont care for the song, and you are right that in a way, i suppose i am convincing myself that the song doesnt bother me. but i have done a pretty good job, being that i couldnt give a shit about “fireflies.” i do think it sounds like the postal service. i just think it sounds like them FOR A REA$ON.
i also think the one-sie is ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as getting upset about the existence of a song.
this is just like airborne toxic event’s “sometime around midnight” completely ripping off LCD Soundsystem’s “all my friends”
Listen, I get that it’s inoffensive. I get that it doesn’t harm me in any way. But so is most of modern, mainstream music. That doesn’t mean I can’t call the music shit. A terrible song to me is a terrible song, and I’ll label it as such. This is one of many places where I can come to escape “bands” and “music” like this so I can revel in the snobbery and elitism that is discovering obscure bands either yet to break or have already missed their chance.
I honestly do not think that Owl City and the Postal Service sound alike. Sure, they’re in the same genre. But Owl City uses more guitars and keyboard, and less of the pure electronic sound. Also, their voice are entirely different.
It’s just that there aren’t many popular electronic bands out there, so the few that are popular are grouped together as being the same.
i would just like to say that owl city’s music is much better than the postal service just as a personal oppion.
looking at the facts however, adam young of owl city is a one man band meaning he creates all the music himslef. unlike the postal service. therefore, owl city is much more talented.
This music is cheesy as hell
Postal service was written by Jimmy Tamborello, and collaberated through emails with Ben Gibbard. That is impressive, and anybody can be a one man band. Fucking every solo artist is a one man band, doesn’t mean they are good.
you’ve lost your mind. I (unfortunately saw O C live for a little bit at Sasquatch and people were walking away) and he plays with other people. aaaaaanyone can raise a few hundred bones…sit on a laptop, and create teeeeeeeeen smut. in the music world…you either get it or you don’t. DNTEL is the mastermind behind Postal Service, and I guarantee Adam Young would be the first to admit he wishes his talents were that par.
nice try kid. your logic is infallible, oh wait its not. postal service is a side project of indie greats. hopefully someday you’ll grow up to have some indie cred, but baby steps. you can start your way to recovery by turning off american idol. you’ll thank me later.
“Indie cred”? you gotta be shittin me…what’d i do for “Indie cred”? sip lattes at starbucks and ironically make fun of everyone for the gay music they listen to? indie music is terrible, no substance, no compession, and no heart. so go fuck yourself and get a grip on what music really is or go back to your old highschool and get slapped around some more you fuckin lame
Ugh, gross. Is this what it would sound like if the Postal Service wrote a jingle for a McDonald’s commercial?
Radiohead and Postal Service are completely different. Don’t compare the two again you just sound moronic.
Neon Golden by The Notwist was better then both of these bands.
This is tiresome. If it sounds like postal service, shouldn’t that be good for us? Instead we’re hating Owl City for, sounding like another band’s album that came out 6 years ago. All of that aside, my personal opinion: Owl City and Postal Service don’t sound that much alike, I think it’s just the song ‘Fireflies’, depicting the rest of their songs as “rip offs”. I guess. I Still, would much rather get the new Postal Service album.
we are ripping on the song because it sucks and its a rip off. the 2 combinations rules out every articulate formula ever
people, let us focus on what is most important. an Animal Collective EP is nigh. let bygones be bygones. bygones are in this case, owl city and worrying about other frivolous topics as such.
I hear more differences than similarities. Honestly, Postal Service is understated and minimalist where Owl City is more produced, features a wider variety of sounds, and has more build and movement throughout the tracks. I’m think both albums are great, each in its own way, and to insist on comparing the two when they were made for different reasons and marketed to different audiences is foolish.
The Postal Service is not the only project that has ever put pop lyrics over a bunch of synths and blips, and Owl City is simply another in a long tradition of synthpop.
Honestly, in a world where Ben Gibbard and James Figurine REFUSE to make another record because they are too busy turning out forgettable albums like Narrow Stairs and Dumb Luck, I don’t see why anyone would be opposed to someone exploring the genre-melding possibilities that Postal Service never got around to.
I mean was there this much hoopla when The Secret Handshake released his synthpop album? What about Young Love? Just because Owl City is doing what these boys tried to do better than they managed to do doesn’t seem to me like a good reason to rise up against him.
I’m just happy to hear something like this going mainstream for the first time. Props to Owl City for accomplishing what other synthpoppers couldn’t.
Can we stop thie war? Some people love Postal Service and Owl City both, ya know. If you have not listened to more than 7 Owl City songs, please don’t hate because yes, Fireflies is not one of his best songs IMO. Gotta give Adam some credit, his lyrics in most of his other songs are breathtaking. I’ll agree with Cameron, too. Does anyone HONESTLY think that Adam Young PURPOSELY stole/ripped off Postal Service?? Every artist is inspired from some band/singer of some sort. Didn’t Adam grow up listening to Imogen Heap and blink-182?
What does it truly matter?
Enjoy your life
Everyone here, are total fucking retards
wow, a lot of hate for owl city here! ok, i love postal service, but when i heard owl city, i didn’t automatically think of ps. but i can see the resemblence. what, two people can’t have the same style now? and those who say he sings just like ben gibbard, well they are alike, but it’s not like adam young can change his voice! i personally think owl city’s lyrics are very clever. and yes, i now like them more than postal service. like others have said before me, you really need to get off your high horses.
I heard this song and immediately filled my boxers with watery shit…could it be Postal Service? I really hated them and Deathcab but it made my bowels really move. Just then…it my turn to change my son’s diaper…judging from the massive load of solid shit exceeding his diaper ridge…I realized this was neither of the two. It was some ass clown that had ripped off a really shitty band. Congrats to you.
Just to piggyback on what Horace just posted, this band makes me question God.
I love Postal Service, thus I love Owl City. Due to the fact that Postal Service has decided to leave their fans with only one album, we must find another outlet for satisfying our love of electronically-inspired music. So, thank you Owl City for bringing about the new era of “Postal Service”.
Firstly: I liked Narrow Stairs!
Secondly: My first reaction to hearing Owl City was “Why is my boyfriend playing the postal service?” His usual musical tastes include 3 days grace and kelly clarkson. (he has other redeeming qualities.)
Is Owl City as good as the postal service? No. Am I going to get my panties in a bunch over it? no.
Yes, It’s lame, and it’s a shame the postal service isn’t getting more credit for what they created, but they never released a follow up album (doesn’t give people the right to rip them off. Just saying maybe if they did, they would have been getting the credit instead) and I don’t listen to the radio anyway or watch Disney.
I’ll probably end up listening to them anyway because of my boyfriend (Hey, it beats taylor swift!) but i live in the world, and the world does not appreciate my musical tastes. Besides, If he likes owl city, maybe I can get him to listen to the Postal Service instead!
Yea, yea, yea…you did understand the phrase watery shit right? After hearing the story about your bf listening to this tasteless garbage, I soiled my boxers 3 times over before I was able to hit the power button on my computer. Listen, these guys have 1/3rd the talent of my weiner. And trust me…that is not saying much. I would rather listen to White Snake…
you all are a bunch of fucking whining bitches, so what if they sound alike, it still doesnt mean that they ripped-off them, so just shut the fuck up, if anyone can say anything on the matter, it is postal service, and hmmmm i dont think they have said one word about it, so shut the fuck up
i dont know if this has been said but the reason this is so popular is because it sounds like The Postal Service. People have been craving something new from TPS that when owl city came around it was to tasty to pass up.
It sounds like a rip off but its not bad music. Id rather listen to give up(sounds better on vinyl) but hey if OC comes on im gonna enjoy it
umm the fact that people are even say this sounds like postal service is ridiculous. im pretty sure i cant stand postal service and this 20 times better
I was driving north from Virgina to NY on Saturday and heard this song on the radio. I knew from the lyrics that it was not the Postal Service. I thought the lyrics were horrible while obviously copying the punchline style of Gibbard. I knew from hearing it that someone was completely ripping them off on this song within a few seconds. The vocal inflections and the melodies and the instrumentation, the flow of the verses. This is not just similarity people, this is like painting in the style of Jackson Pollack and then getting your work shown in galleries as if he never existed. And people go, “Who cares? Who the hell is Jackson Pollack anyways?” And the copycat goes, “Yeah, I think I may have seen a Jackson Pollack painting once a long time ago. But he hasn’t painted in a really long time, and maybe this is a continuation of his work.” What?
This whole board reminds me of high school, always somebody pissing and moaning over “who ripped off who” as if it matters. Welcome to the human race?? Here you shall take ones ideas and run with them – perhaps improve? Sure, I have politely referred to Owl City as The Postal Service’s younger brother, as they are similar, but they still have their own unique characteristics. I’ve been hooked since I first listened to Dear Vienna, West Coast Friendship and Super Honeymoon. There will always be a place on my shelf for The Postal Service’s Give Up album, but Owl City is what’s in now, and it’s more fun to enjoy some new tunes rather than being miserable over similarities. My hat is off to Adam Young for accomplishing this in such little time, and to Ben Gibbard for not sending Christmas cards to ppl that defend his band on random online boards. :)
did u guys ever stop t think there’s a reason O.C made it bigger than P.S…jeaz more ppl like the music, if P.S was such a great band, it wud be as popular, o.c started off on myspace, thats where it grew…bcuz more ppl liked it.
Now if PS was that popular u retards wud be complaining that they ‘sold out’ n became commercial like everything else…there is no original music anymore, so ppl, stop comparing. thats why it have music categories …u dont see an “original/unique” genre on ur iTunes do u?
The amount of anger towards owl city on this board is so over the top and redicullous. People are making it seem like owl city using being influenced by TPS is a serious crime. People wake up!!!! If owl city were really copying TPS gibbard would have sued the group for every penny it has ever made or at the very least complained. Until that happens this is really a non-issue.
AMEN!!!! (and i don’t mean that in a religious way)
I heard the song on the radio (‘Give Up’ is probably one of my all time favorite albums, and i’m a definite Death Cab fan) and was truely surprised to find out it wasn’t Ben Gibbard singing…but i was mostly glad to find out it wasn’t him because the song is shit.
You know, I would not doubt that the people who complain and crucify Adam are the ones that are too lazy to get up and do something with their own lives rather than sit on their behind and drag others down with them. Oh, not to mention that they are afraid of positive things and hate anything sunny and good (that includes atheist and Jesus Haters)
I’m pretty amazed by how similar Owl City sounds to the Postal Service.
On the other hand: I always though the Oasis/Beatles comparison was rather lazy. Oasis never sounded much like The Beatles – especially not on Definitely Maybe. People just made that connection because the guys in Oasis worshiped the Beatles so openly, if they hadn’t done that almost no one would have made that connection. It’s a pretty interesting look into the way people think (or don’t think.)
jesus this place is crawling with hipsters………lol
and you up there leave that ol lady alone you degenerate F*****bag f***er
thats my granmammy
The only Owl City and Postal Service songs that are somewhat similar are Such Great Heights and Fireflies. Saying that Owl City is a rip off of the Postal Service is ridiculous. They aren’t even close to the same genre. Why don’t you listen to all of Owl City’s music before you start making assumptions and declaring it a rip off.
Ok. I had never heard of Postal Service before this blog and some other shitass blog. Now I just looked up Postal Service and the first song on the list was Sleeping In. I listened to the song and Postal Service sounds nothing like Owl City, and some asshole decided to criticize Owl City. Shame on you. BTW, I LOVE OWL CITY! HA! ha-ha-ha Shitass Writers and criticizers of Adam Young
Owl City is shite. Worst.
indeed, “fireflies” sounds a lot like the postal service…but that’s only ONE song. after listening through ocean eyes, i’ve determined that its overly pop-y and bright sound holds little to no resemblance to give up’s more mellow feel. thus, the real issue imo is that, imo, ocean eyes = PANSY MUSIC. it’s a fruity, tween-y joke–an example of electronica in its lamest form. the worst part is that ocean eyes is deceivingly catchy; as of now, i can’t stop hearing “hello seattle” in my mind. someone please rid my thoughts of this sickeningly cheeseball tune :’(
oh, and about those lyrics…yeah, they kinda-sorta-maybe don’t make much sense at all (wtf is a sockhop?)
This song is definitely a Postal Service ripoff, but some of these folks are getting too upset over it. I’m sure that music nerds could identify lots of predecessors that influenced PS. I could argue that PS ripped off “Young Turks” by Rod Stewart (yes, Rod Stewart!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSWp6c86Edg
Just update the synths and swap in Gibbard’s voice. I would love to hear PS cover this one…
Gay song, this sounds like something made for an episode of Gossip Girl.
i own it. its very comfy.
THE POSTAL SERVICE KILLED THE RADIO STAR
Can you fucking nerds stop bitching about ripoffs? Musicians get inspired by everything they hear and it shines through in EVERY single song they make. Just because this sub-genre is small (you all seem to think the Postal Service own it) you start ripping on someone else being successful in the same field. Fuck you
his lyrics are unbearable. This music is for people that “don’t like to think about stuff”…like people that like CSI and Law and Order and think they are intelligent because they figure out “who done it” 20 seconds before the show reveals it….the lyrics are “clever” to these kind of people….
Also, for the people saying he produced it in his basement…thats either A) a load of crap – just read the liner notes or B) he has a million dollar studio and mastering house in his basement. I’m sure some of his previous work and MAYBE some of the original tracking and reason drums were done at his house…but this was produced, mixed, and mastered by the big boys.
Also…this songs popularity has more to do with having the right song for the right campaign – songs don’t just show up everywhere all at the same time without the right people putting money and time into it. The same week this song came out on Itunes it was playing on every Barnes and Noble, Steak and Shake, Big Boy, and Walmart soundtrack in the country…its not magic…its money.
hi, i’m satan. i like both owl city and postal service.
by the way, stop saying you hate owl city if you’ve only heard that one song. seriously, grow up.
I’m not sure why everyong is getting so worked up over this. Owl City has been around for a while now.I’ve known about and liked his music since he’s been around. He also has other really good songs besides Fireflies. that song just happened to get suddenly popular. And for the people that say he sucks, well have you even listened to some of his other works? i firmly believe that people shouldnt base their judgements on one song without making an informed conclusion based on experiance and knowledge. in this day and age especiaaly with the simplicity of the internet, people go around spouting off their uneducated opinions and pass them off as fact. Even if you go to itunes and llisten to the 30sec preview of several of his songs, at least your can form a more education opinion. But of course opinions are just that, opinions. They are not right or wrong. They are a preference and you can’t really think that just because you hate a band and say it that other people will magically agree and change their minds. But listen to his music before basing your opinion. I’m more that willing to listen to someone who has formed an educated thought and made up their mind. I’m not trying to suay you in anyway ; ) As for regards to Postal Service, yes there are similarities. But lots of artists draw inspiration and sound like other artists. There is hardly any real originality out there anymore so you can’t really get too worked up about that when i bet you can scroll through your ipod and find artists that sound similar. Heck, theres even a function on itunes called Genius to do just that. (also i just remembered when coldplay ripped off that one song for Viva la Vida, but i dont recall huge uproar like this and people weren’t all saying they hate coldplay for that…so just a thought.) But anyways i must say that i am a HUGE Postal Service fan but I’m also a Owl City fan. I don’t understand why they can’t coexist peacefully. I was delighted to discover a band that resembled the postal service because there werent any new albums so i was happy for new material in a style i really liked. before i came across all this hubbub i just naturally assumed that fans of Owl City would like the Postal Service and vise versa.
I just have one more point to make in regards to this article. The headline of this article says “Owl City pretty much admit ripping off postal service” I read this article and i must say that i don’t believe he “pretty much admittted” to anything. I believe that was just a way to get everyone riled up. Stereogum should pay better attention next time to what impression their article title is giving. : ) By the way, I’m not here to argue with anyone i just felt like i should post my opinion.
OWL CITY AND POSTAL SERVICE FOREVER!!! <3
Okay i lied i have one more point ; )!!! HAHA! I really that Owl City is much more techno and electronic that the Postal Service. Owl City as a whole (in my own opinion) sounds more like Swimming With Dolphins. (im thinking Ambient Blue – EP from Sept. 2008) and Lights than the Postal Service. I think Fireflies is the only song that people know (unfortunatly because his other songs are sooo good too!!!!) But that song could be more like a Postal Service song. I think what really makes people say he’s some sort of a rip off is because of his singing voice. it sounds similar to Ben Gibbards, but i don’t really think he can help that. ; ) But really, the more you listen you become aware of the differences instead of the similarities. I personally can tell that ther are differences and that when Adam Young is singing it is not Ben Gibbard but this could be because I’m a fan of both. But nevertheless I think both are great!
i’ve never came to this site, but Jesus Christ, the hate here is enough to make anyone smile and say to themselves “i must be doing something right”…
i mean the hate here on this site is so strong, passionate, hilarious, and embarrassing, but it also glues with the site editors biases…
don’t hate Owl City… if you don’t like him, don’t listen to his music! ITS THAT SIMPLE!!! COME ON YALL, GET A LIFE!!!!!! LOL I pitty you members, and some of the editors here… back to my life! lol
and LAST BUT NOT LEASE!!!! EVEN YOUR GOD TPS sounds like someone! remember art is always going to repeat itself… everyone sounds like a little bit of someone before…
now go buy a life!
“last but not lease”… yeah you like the word play… enjoy it enjoy it
good buy lol
Okay, you’re missing the most important part:
I really prefer that Fireflies is on top of charts (and honestly, I prefer Owl City than Postal Service, and I’ve listened to both) than Ke$ha, or some other person that do music based on materialism, for selling purposes only.
Owl City doesn’t care about that. They only bring positive, metaphorical lyrics, that are very clever, indeed. Some of the songs are flamboyant, yes, like Dental Care, but some songs are really, really deep when you take a better look on them. At least, I prefer hearing “I’ve got misty eyes as they said farewell” (and this phrase has a personal meaning to me) than “tonight’s gonna be a good night” one thousand times or “I like my jewelry, that’s always on gold”. You’re being haters without knowing what you’re talking about, because you have a shortened-mind and can only see one aspect of all. At least, I know my point, have my arguments and keep walking.
Hahaha! Really deep. Deep as a 6-inch kiddy pool. Maybe their music wasn’t made for commercial purposes, but their videos and jumpsuits certainly were. If I had made their latest record, I’d be too embarrassed to play for even my own bandmates, friends, or wife, let alone the whole world.
But why is that? Because Kid A is “darker?” Darkness doesn’t automatically qualify something as better. Kid A was a stylistic fusion with oddly similar roots to Give Up, but Give Up was indeed more cohesive, “catchier” (which can be a bad thing) and oddly, very original.
This is from a guy who thinks Xiu Xiu’s first record, Boredom’s Vision Creation Newsun and Orthrelm’s second are the most stunning rock records of the past 10 or so years (Xiu Xiu for developing the first original singing style since about 1977, Orthrelm for the literally absurd and seemingly impossible merger of minimalism, futurism, formalism, and … metal, and the Boredoms for essentially inspiring the whole of non-retro indie music after that record [by inspiring the "live band leader as DJ composer" aesthetic and the percussion-heavy movement in experimental rock music of the mid-2000s, which directly begat the newfound interest in African sounds]).
I know technically that Boredoms’ record was released at the end of 1999, but man, it’s specter is so monolithic, it can’t be ignored.
It’s such a blatant rip-off! Anyone who’s a genuine TPS fan is bound to be angry/frustrated. This boring, talentless, corporately beige wannabe has gone way beyond ‘inspiration’ and just copied the whole sound of TPS without any of the originality or storytelling that made their songs so good. It is totally fair for everyone who sees this for what it is to make a point of complaining about it. He doesn’t have the right to ‘cash in’ on a another bands sound because they’re not using it at the minute, it’s not just that he’s stealing the success and credit they deserve (which even if it was decent effort would still be a shitty thing to do), it’s that on top of that the song’s so sodding awful. And yes, I do think he did it on purpose.
this is all hilarious, you say you hate how he ripped postal service, but all of the rap crap that everyone else loves today is being ripped off from eachother, whoever started music in general probably wouldn’t be pissed at everyone else for copying him/her, get over yourselves, just because you think postal service was ripped off by owl city doesn’t mean that you’re the shit
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA you bunch of fucking dumbass adolescent simpletons, how stupid are you? Looks like owl city in such little time has made far more money than youll ever dream of, and here you are ohhh boo hoo hoo thats not fair??? they ripped off postal service?? HA HA fucking HA…get over it, whiney cunts…..or do something about it? nevermind, you’d never live up to that.
soall you people say this is a rip-off of postal service and death cab or something, of what songs is this a rip-off then and with that this is a great song, i mean what are you all nagging about, lots of songs get ripped off
if all u idiots want 2 there does the postal service (which i’ve never heard of) have a song called Panda Bear, The Tip of The Iceberg, Rianbow Viens, Strawberry Avalanche, Meteor Shower, The Saltwater Room!! please please tell me if he does nd if u i pretty much have the right 2 push u down every flight of stairs in the “Willis” Tower!!!!!!
Holy crap! I was reading an article about Monsters of Folk (way overrated) and clicked on something that brought me here. I can’t believe this argument is still going on. Owl City didn’t rip anyone off but Ben Gibbard STOLE Sufjan Stevens’ voice!!! Stuff that in your pipes and smoke it.
I have always found Ben Gibbard’s voice and lyrics annoying although I can handle Such Great Heights. But I do enjoy Owl City in a background music kind of way.
What I think is funny is all the people freaking out about how much OC is ripping off PS for copying their sound and then calling it shit!! Which is it?? It sounds like Postal Service or it’s shit? If it’s shit you are calling Postal Service shit! Give the (one-man band) guy a break, there is much more terrible music out there. Ke$ha anyone?
I really think “Nick Rock” is the guy from Owl City!!! He keeps bagging on Death Cab and Postal Service when obviously Owl City is just a very very VERY cheap rip off of said bands. And come on The guy even sounds like Ben Gibbard who had that voice first by the way Dick Cock! So go F*%K yourself or better yet you should go wack off to some Death Cab with the Owl City loser!
The only reason some people think Owl City ripped off TPS is because the music has an electronic element (much different from Dntel ) and a guy that can’t help it that his voice sounds like Ben Gibbard. To get an idea of what it really sounds like when someone is deliberately trying to rip off The Postal Service, go and have a listen to anything by a group called “The Go Find”. While the voice is different, it is obviously copying Ben Gibbards style and the music could be straight off of ‘Give Up”. Still, the music sounds lquite different from Owl City. The difference is there because Owl City’s sound obviously evolved from a different place – which is what he actually said in the interview being referenced in this article).
I love Owl City and i love Postal Service! They are both amazing bands!! However your ignorance is my bliss, if you cant keep to yourself your problems with Owl City perhaps you should stop listening to Music all together, and leave it to people who truely appreciate music!
how can you not like this? especially if you like postal service… they’re both sweet bubblegum. i love the melodyne/autotune this guy is using.
I wonder if this thread was around when The Postal Service came out with “Give Up” that we would have the same reaction. Maybe Stereogum would of put up New Postal Service album sure sounds like a Aphex Twin/Björk album. “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” uses a lot of familiar electro sounds that Aphex Twin used in his music in the 90s and very early portion of the last decade. Then the last 45 seconds of “District” is very (very) similiar to the last portions of Björk’s “Hyper-ballad” I
I’m willing to say that Ben Gibbard was influene by Aphex Twin and Björk. Every musicians has a musical source for their music.It is completely insane to think that “Give Up” was this great original piece of music when it was far from it.
The postal service can’t be compared to this guy. He is a joke, have you listened to his lyrics? anyone? They are ridiculous! What is this guy on? I just laugh when i listen to the lyrics, he sings about the fruitiest shit. He just wishes he could be like them because they are awesome! But it just isn’t going to happen, it can’t. Postal service is ONE OF A KIND! They made ONE awesome CD that was something new and refreshing, You just can’t F*** with that. I think thats why there was only one CD released by the postal service. And their lyrics kick ass, which is very important in good music. Owl City flat out sucks!
Okay so, there are over 100,000 artists in music history, some are bound to sound a like! do you know how difficult it is to make something completely different? Extremely. writing a best selling novel may be easier. so why don’t YOU try to make something popular, catchy, and make sure it sounds nothing like anybody elses. name one band that doesn’t sound like someone else. its called genre! you obsessive fans of PS need to get your head out of your butts. oh, and PS isn’t completely new and fresh, besides the fact hardly anyone knows of that band, i’ve heard bands before Postal that sound like it.
Hi, I’ve listened to The Postal Service since 2005 and they have been such an amazing soundtrack to various stages of my life. It was a pivotal album as it married the emotional lyrics and intelligent sentiments with the electronic production and “cute/retro” sounds that appeal to any of us born in the 80s. I think that Owl City are no where near as good because the emotional honesty and intelligence of the Postal Service doesn’t come through. Bands taking stuff from other bands is in no way new. Look at La Roux ripping of Depeche Mode or All the “indie” bands that sounded like the Strokes and the Hives as soon as they did well. I think the problem is the Postal Service went quiet for too long and so some record company exec saw Owl Citie’s Myspace following and went “I’d like to make some of that money”. It’s not Owl Cities fault he got lucky. That said the part where he claims not to have noticed the Postal Service comparisons is just a lie! I mean I don’t believe Lady Gaga is really 23 and I sure as hell don’t believe that he didn’t happen to hear Give Up in today’s world of Myspace, youtube and iTunes. A
I don’t think they really sound alike at all. Not enough to be particularly picked out, certainly not enough to call it a rip-off, even if you do think they sound alike. Definitely in the same vein, but that’s because they’re in the same genre, that’s what a genre is.
And how do those quotes in any way “pretty much admit ripping off Postal Service”? They don’t at all, at most they admit being influenced by them, and even that’s stretching it. Your opinion of whether he’s lying or not is entirely your own and who am I to say he’s telling the truth, but he still doesn’t “pretty much admit” anything at all.
And being influenced by people is how the world goes round. Everyone builds on everyone else’s work. The guy who invented the microchip wouldn’t have been able to if Edison hadn’t discovered electricity, but it used his work, didn’t it? Is he ripping Edison off? No.
Why is everyone so elitist when it comes to the arts. Geez, the guy just write some music that he liked that was similar (surprise surprise) to some music that he liked. Other people like it, and it obviously doesn’t infringe on any actual artistic copyrights (possibly a hint to everyone out there that it’s not as big a deal as you’re making out), that’s all that really matters.
I think the chorus sounds a lot like parts of ‘Africa’ by Toto. It actually got that stuck in my head, I only realised a while later I was singing a different song!
Okay first, I’m a Postal Service fan. I remember reading the lyrics from such great heights, the iron and wine version and realized how amazing ben gibbard is at writing song lyrics, then i heard such great heights, and it was an amazing song. So i started listening to their other songs like district sleeps…, nothing better, their against all odds cover. jimmy tamborello is really talented with electronics. oh and jenny lewis’ contribution add a nice touch.
Then came Owl City, and yes, i did like them. I’ll admit, i did think of postal service after listening to fireflies, but i was prolly hooked after vanilla twilight, which i think is an amazing song. I started listening to more songs and adam young’s port blue stuff. I think both Postal Service and Owl City are really good acts (please respect this opinion), i mean i’d rather have owl city singing about ten million fireflies than having Ke$ha tell kids about brushing her teeth with a bottle of jack.
About the radio play and attention owl city gets – that’s how owl city was marketed, towards the mainstream audience (label: Universal) and postal service wasn’t. The closest to that was Such Great Heights in ups commercials, but that was for the copyright agreement over the name (ups sent p.s. a cease and desist, but then negotiated. P.s. allowed use of their songs for ups promo use and p.s. got to keep their name). There are the similarities like being electronic musicians, similar singing styles, female vocalists, clever lyrics, but nobody bashes boyz noize for sounding too similar to justice with the distorted synths and drum sound; there are lots of other musicians that have a similar sound but there are differences that distinguish them. If you compare Ocean Eyes to Give Up, they both fill up space with sound differently. Ocean Eyes is layered with synths and other sounds, and Give Up has its share of synths, but Tamborello makes them sound glitchy and processes them. If you listen to Young’s Port Blue stuff, you can see how he went from there to Owl City. Owl City and Postal Service have their differences, but because fireflies and such great heights both started with BoOp BOop BeEP BEep (you know what i’m talking about) and fireflies got radio play, people got mad. I’m a little annoyed that fireflies was chosen to be the first song for the single because people started comparing, but owl city and postal service are both different and they’re both good. Ocean Eyes does not sound exactly like Give Up (Umbrella Beach by owl city does not sound like postal service).
Don’t disrespect owl city and call him a postal service rip off, because they both have different sounds. He’s not doing anything wrong at all and both postal service and owl city are great artists. Damn, just listen to the music, stop letting these comparisons get in the way, and shut the fuck up with “If you’re going to rip something off, at least make it a good rip off.” or “Ben Gibbard should beat Adam Young’s ass”.
I honestly don’t know how to feel about all of this.
I’m a musician by trade, and after I sort of locked myself away from music for a year, I could see influences in a lot of the stuff that I ended up writing. It seems almost…an intrinsic quality. Something that you can’t avoid.
On the one hand, yes, Owl City is a blatant rip off. So it kind of pisses me off, not because they’re ripping off one of the best artists of this generation, but because they deny it. If you’re going to carbon copy, that’s fine – art is art, and if it’s individual to you, great – but fucking admit your influences.
On the other hand, we don’t know the full story. What about George Harrison and My Sweet Lord? There have been so many instances of Cryptomnesia that were genuinely innocent that we can’t really crucify the lad for his work.
Anyways, all this shit slinging is because of Fireflies anyhow. I hate that song, but the rest of the album is good. My son is seven months old, and he seems to love it, instantly going to sleep listening to it, and he reacts the same way to The Mars Volta and The Postal Service (luckily, two of my favorite bands of all time). If it brings my son joy, then good for him. More power to those who get self actualization and joy from it.
owl city rules!!!!!!!!! i couldnt even listnen to the thingimibob coz it didnt work lol. but he rules!!!
I’m laughing so hard at these moronic comments. Ripping off? Stealing?
This is ART we’re talking about. It’s called appropriation It happens so often, I’m suprised all of you can get on the internet and look at the pictures that are constantly being “Stolen”. Hell, even the famous red white and blue picture of Obama was “ripped off” from a picture without permission. So I’ll leave you with this, and hope you all die in a fire;
“Good artists copy, great artists steal” -Pablo Picasso
I came across this website by chance…. and just putting this out there…. I absolutely <3 <3 <3 love Adam Young!!!! Hah! I said it!! =3 Also, I had never heard of Postal Service before… so… I was surprised when people were saying that Adam's music is a rip-off… I looked up Postal Service… and I prefer Adam much better. Just sayin. =3 Nya!
Wow, Ive never seen so much hate about one artist, and probably my favorite one too.
Do you think owl city is the only one who ‘rips’ off another band of the same musical genre?
Look at all those rappers. They all sound the same too me. All about Women, Money and bein a gansta?
Or how about any kind of screamo band?
There are wayyy to many for me to list. And most of it sounds the same as well.
Then, finally The Postal Service comes out with its own unique sound and its such a huge crime that a single artist ‘duplicates’ their music?
Personally I think there are alot of haters here saying they just hate the individual Fireflies song. I know plenty of people complain about music simply because they dont like the sound. Musical Artists are running out of ‘new material’ to use because someone, at some point has used the same sorta thing. and thus, they do the best they can. It happens all the time.
Grow up kids. If you don’t like it, change it.
By the way, perfect example. Justin Beiber? I dislike the kid with a passion, but im sure he’s just another rip off of someone else. Yet his fanbase is massive. He’s what? like 14? Maybe he’s doing something right?
Compare your examples. Everything most of you are saying can be compared with another circumstance and your minds are all to narrow minded to realize it.
Keep in mind, Personal Preference.
*SIGH* why do all modern day music listeners thrive to compare everything, or point accusing fingers to rising music artists telling them that they copied someone. My theory says everyone is jealous. Answer this question: “Why do you hate Justin Bieber”?
Well I don’t
I Just don’t give a Damn
And when Adam says he is the “Next chapter”
It makes sense
He means that I sound like someones side project
Big deal
That doesn’t mean he sat there with his I pod and opened up Reason 4
and listened to Such Great Heights 50 billion times and copied it
it means that the music is inspirational
and the artist writes the music that is tasteful to him
So that’s the type of music he likes.
After all ACDC didn’t write techno they wrote rock
that’s the type of music they liked
Adam likes Electro-Pop
That’s it.
-
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FYI: Death Cab For Cutie=The Postal Service
Don’t believe me?
Go look it up.
great article!
Cynthia G.
Vent
Imagine the fowl shitty song playing with my lyrics:
“I hopped on my fixie bike
Felt so young a kid on a trike
I breathe just like everyone
everyone’s all undone
If I my pants get too tight
Its alright, I ruin mommys night
I play this gay sythesizer
In 80′s throwback decor
then the hymn of a symphonic
melody arises as the sunsets
with sillhouettes glowing slowly”
HOW F***ing HARD IS THAT
FREESTYLE SON!