Pitchfork

Back in 2003, when music was still in its infancy, Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello came together as the Postal Service to release a little record called Give Up, making it okay for indie kids to get down. And the world was never the same.

In years to come, Give Up will serve as an education in the entirety of music's history all by itself. That is, unless its follow-up improves upon it, in which case we can include it in the curriculum as well.

Gibbard has spoken of that ever-elusive follow-up in a recent interview on MTV.com, in which he said, "We're slowly starting. We're crawling right now, and whether that crawl turns into a walk remains to be seen. But we'll know more towards the end of the year. I've just been touring so much and trying to find time to make it happen and make our schedules line up."

Jimmy Tamborello echoed Gibbard's statement in a recent Pitchfork interview, saying, "We're talking about wanting to finish an album by sometime next year, because we have to work with Death Cab's schedule and stuff. I definitely want to do another one."

Tamborello also said he hopes Jenny Lewis will be more involved in the process this time around. The Rilo Kiley frontwoman and solo artist was a vocalist on Give Up, and, depending on her schedule, she might contribute as a songwriter on the upcoming record.

When asked about the direction the new album would take, Tamborello said, "I always have this idea to branch out and try something new, but at the same time, the Postal Service is a really nice outlet. It's so fun to do. Changing it too much or even overthinking it... I just don't want to make it a drag to work on."

According to MTV.com, only two songs have been recorded for the album, but writing and recording will take priority once Death Cab for Cutie's tour schedule winds down. However, Gibbard is "in the very early stages of writing a new Death Cab record, too," so maybe he'll never get around to the Postal Service album. C'mon, Ben, do it for the kids!

Gibbard explained his schedule to MTV thusly: "We're going to do one more lap around the country and then go home and work on music. At the end of the year is when this is all going to wrap up, and we can all get back to work."

As for how recording for the new project is being handled, the boys are still keeping it real-- long distance style-- but instead of the mail, they've taken to trading tracks via the internet. "[Since] this time we know how to do YouSendIt.com, doing stuff online is a lot easier now. So we probably won't be using the actual mail," Tamborello said. When asked if this might necessitate a name change for the group, he laughed and said, "Yeah, ‘YouSendIt-dot-com'."

Here are those Death Cab for Cutie dates, so you can shout Postal Service song suggestions in hopes that Mr. Gibbard will get the hint.

The only good cutie is a dead cutie:

06-27 Leeds, England - University of Leeds
06-28 London, England - Carling Academy Brixton *
06-29 Haachtsesteenweg, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
06-30 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
07-01 Bonn, Germany - Rheinkultur Festival
07-06 Kristiansand, Norway - Quart Festival
07-08 Naas, Ireland - Oxegen Festival
07-09 Kinross, Scotland - T in the Park Festival
07-14 Melbourne, Australia - Forum Theatre
07-15 Sydney, Australia - Rebel Rebel
07-16 Sydney, Australia - Rebel Rebel
07-17 Adelaide, Australia - Governor Hindmarsh Hotel
07-18 Fremantle, Australia - Metropolis Fremantle
07-20 Brisbane, Australia - The Arena $
07-22 Byron Bay, Australia - Splendour in the Grass Festival
08-02 University Park, PA - Bryce Jordan Center (Penn State University) #%
08-03 Cuyahoga Falls, OH - Blossom (Kuyahoga Festival)
08-04 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
08-05 Lawrence, KS - Bleeding Kansas Arts & Music Festival
08-06 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium #
08-07 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium #
08-08 Orem, UT - McKay Events Center #
08-10 Veneta, OR - Secret House Vineyard #
08-11 Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre-UC Berkeley #^
08-12 Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre-UC Berkeley #^
08-13 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre-Los Angeles #^
08-14 Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre-Los Angeles #^
08-15 San Diego, CA - Bayside-Embarcadero Marina Park South #^

* with Viva Voce
$ with Belles Will Ring
# with Mates of State
% with Sound Team
^ with Spoon

Tamborello has been plenty busy on his own, too. In addition to recently signing to Sub Pop under his Dntel alias, he's about to release his James Figurine debut, Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake, July 11 on Plug Research. The video for the song "Apologies" has just appeared on the label's website. Except for the part with the booty dancing plant stems, the video basically re-imagines the aesthetic of Wallace & Gromit with the slow-motion interludes of "That 70's Show" performed by flowers.

I guess it's better to see for yourself:

Tamborello also has a rare live appearance scheduled for June 29 at a James Figurine listening party in New York at the Happy Ending Lounge. Listening parties in Miami and Boston are also being scheduled for the coming weeks, but the party in New York will be the only one at which Tamborello will be spinning.