Electronic Pop Battle
Okay, I got to get something off my chest…
I spent hours last night trying to find the new Postal Service album, since I kept hearing a new song by them on the radio. After hours of looking, I figured out that the song I heard was not Postal Service, it was Owl City…
I can’t tell you how confused I am. Owl City isn’t just “in the genre” or “in the style” of PS… they are EXACTLY THE SAME. In fact, the Owl City guy’s voice sounds so much like Ben’s, that I’m still convinced that it actually is Ben, playing an elaborate prank, or else the entire internet is mistaken.
Now I’m really torn in my music brain. If this Owl City ablum just said “Postal Service” across the top, I would love it, and have bought it already. As it is, I don’t think I want to buy it… it’s so weird that someone would copy a band so directly. And I know some of you are thinking I’m just being an elitist or whatever, but allow me to explain.
Look at 70’s blues-based rock bands as an example. Led Zeppelin, The Who, ZZ Top, Clapton, Jeff Beck, etc etc etc. All these bands are of the same genre, the same style even. They are, for the most part, doing the same basic idea. But there are little differences. Jimmy Page has little things that set him apart stylistically from Townsend, who has a slightly different style than Clapton, etc. It’s the same basic sound, but approached by different people, so you get some diversity. And the singers are all pretty unique, even though they use similar construction and writing, etc.
And Postal Service is doing this “electronica pop” thing, which a lot of bands are doing. PS wasn’t the first, and were far from the last to do this genre or style… and most of those bands have their own idiosyncrasies, too… but Owl City has copied Postal Service exactly, down to the last detail… the same sound banks, the same samples, every little vocal nuance and inflection, everything about the song writing, arrangement and execution are exactly the same… and I find that kindof disturbing. It sounds like a really good cover band, not a new artist. I feel like PS should be getting royalties off this, or atleast a licensing fee?
I honestly don’t know how to respond to this. I like the song, but I can’t ENJOY it, because I can’t get over how much of a direct copy it is.
Maybe I’m being Music-Jerk-Dude but I can’t wrap my head around this one. I’m really torn.
And no, Owl City, I won’t buy your album. I just can’t, really… it just doesn’t seem right…
December 21st, 2009 at 10:56 am
Song titles, please, for comparison. I’ve listened to PS’s “Such Great Heights” and OC’s Fireflies. While I find those to to be similar, the similarities strike me the same as the similarities you mention in the classic rock genre. So, please give me some specifics for comparison.
December 21st, 2009 at 10:59 am
After my first post, I did read this on the Owl City wikipedia article:
“Owl City has been compared to The Postal Service, with a number of publications going as far as accusing Owl City of “ripping off” the Postal Service. Adam Young, while admitting to being a fan of the Postal Service and acknowledging some influence, has dismissed the comparisons.”
Maybe you’re onto something, but I’d still like to hear what your listening to. You’ve piqued my curiosity.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:37 am
I guess you can’t expect the dude to admit in an interview that he’s doing the same thing. I should also say, that its not that I don’t like Owl City, what drove me to all this at first is that I really liked the song originally. I just… man, I can’t get over how exactly the same it is. I’ve never been so sure that a song was by a certain band, only to find out it’s someone else. It took several hours of research for me to find out that it WASN’T Postal Service, as it didn’t occur to me that it could have been anyone else.
The OC song I’m talking about is “Fireflies,” and I think the comparison is easiest to see in the Postal Service songs, “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight,” “Recycled Air,” “Clark Gable,” and “Brand New Colony.” You can hear a lot of the same samples being used there, and the melody construction is almost identical.
Again, let me clarify something. In pop music, it’s not a chord progression or melody that makes a song unique, like it is in other styles of music. Because most pop music usually only uses different combinations of the same 4 chords, you get tons of songs using the same chords and similar melodies all the time. Thats just the way it is, and there’s nothing wrong with that, because the execution, arrangement, instrumentation, vocal quality, etc. all contribute to the uniqueness of a song. But with Owl City I was struck at how all those elements were the same. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something be THAT similar before, outside of obvious parody acts like Weird Al (who, by the way, is a genius).
I’m not trying to dog on people that like Owl City, it’s definitely worth enjoying, I just don’t think I’ll be able to really enjoy it ever, after being such a fan of Postal Service.