postal service may have been on sub pop, but that didn't make it any less poppy, chart-topping, or derivative to begin with. they were far from the first to do glitchy production and breathy vocals. there is no intrinsic righteousness in being indie.

The copycat accusations are jaw-droppingly bad. Do musicians create music in a vacuum? What do you think a "genre" is? Owl City is "emo synth pop," apparently. Who cares if Postal Service is too? Owl City has its own melodies (better melodies, many would say) and much more playful, poetic lyrics. That the voices sound similar is beyond anyone's control. And let's not mention that PS hasn't produced an album in nearly SEVEN years.

Owl City has done a good job of expanding a particular style, and people want to listen to it. End of story.

What's interesting is people seem to be offended that someone copied a duo that A., isn't relevant and B., is severely mediocre. It's one thing to find success sounding exactly like, say, Coldplay, but Postal Service, really? Who cares.

How about you spend your time writing about how Death metal is ripping off Beethoven because they use the same keys and cord progressions? Music has similarities, deal with it. And Postal Service was a one hit wonder anyway so nobody gives a ----

Listen to: Designer Skyline, This is the Future, Meteor Shower, Umbrella Beach, Hello Seattle, Hot Air Balloon, On The Wing, Swimming In Miami, Fuzzy Blue Lights, Air Traffic...hell, most of them are damn brilliant.

TPS? I never would have thought to compare Adam's music to them. The UPS commercial would be a lot less annoying with Owl City playing.

I think Adam knows how good he is and these snarky reviews don't bother him much. He's up there flying in The Airway.

A thousand hugs from 10,000 lightning bugs? It seems like the people that listen to this have just about as much intellect as the person that wrote the lyrics in the first place. Honestly, I would probably listen to Owl City if his lyrics weren't so god awful.

From Owl City's "Hello Seattle":
"Hello Seattle, I am a cold seahorse feeling warm in your sand"
It's plain garbage, it sounds like the lyrics were written by a 7 year old, or something you would hear on Disney Channel.

TPS is the same exact sound (hence being ripped off by owl city), but with profound lyrics. Do yourselves a favor and google "Such Great Heights"

Ok, Owl City's lyrics are meant to be fun. There are some songs that make no sense at all... He's an insomniac, how much sense do you expect him to make when he hasn't slept for days? Also, to judge all of Owl City by the lyrics of fireflies and hello seattle is to really miss something... A lot of his songs are about finding love and hope and faith. If you can't judge someone harshly because they've gained a lot of popularity with the youth. They're obviously making better music than whoever TPS is...

Ok, lets clear the air here just a bit. Just heard Owl City about a day ago. Very good, catchy song, True. Has an uncanny resemblence to Ben Gibbard via The Postal Service, True. The Postal Service was a side project for Gibbard, also playing in Death Cab For Cutie, and before that All-Time Quarter back, True. Gibbard was approached by Jimmy Taborello of Dntel (which is also a very synth pop type sound), to do The Postal Service. The mere fact that Owl City may or may not have taken influence from Postal Service is irrelevant, its more of a compliment personally. The rest of Gibabrds music sounds unlike that of TPS. Hence- SIDE PROJECT. Owl City is not a side project. Who cares if they sound alike, seriously. If you don't like TPS, but like Owl City, then why are you complaining? If you like TPS and not Owl City, so be it, more than likely your jealously is saying your gay, so listen up. Personally I'm a huge Ben Gibbard fan. At first I too thought it was Gibbard, but the learned it was Owl City. I admit for a couple minutes I was kinda shocked like, "This guy did rip off Gibbard", but, and I reasure you that I now view it in a way to listen to another album very similar to TPS. Enough said, hate it or love it, there's your nugget.

I googled "Owl City + Ben Gibbard" before Fireflies was even done playing. It's so obvious that he ripped them off. It's actually more similar than Velveteen is to DCFC. I'm in awe. Yet, I like the sound. Too bad I can understand the lyrics, because they are a real f'ing pain. The sound itself is good, though. Although that Owl City does have quite a few songs that I'd gladly skip, in contrary to TPS.

Ok. Listen anybody who knows anything about music knows that only one person COPIES SOMEBODY ELSES STYLE........WEIRD AL... I say that to say this.....Similarity doesnt mean duplication.... The fact that TPS lyrics are some what deeper if you will and Owl Citys lyrics are some what cartoonish if you will further lets you know they are DIFFERENT. I love TPS ana OWL CITY and right now personally i think we need some lyrics like those of Owl City. P.S. A genre (pronounced /????nr?/, also /?d???nr?/; from French, genre /????/, "kind" or "sort", from Latin: genus (stem gener-), Greek: genos, ?????) is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition; the term is often used to categorize literature and speech, but is also used for any other form of art or utterance

I agree with the post above mine. 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?

i think people should drop it. postal service is not that popular anymore and owl city is. owl city is waaay better because the lyrics are fun but make sense to anyone who REALLY listens. all of u who think postal service is better than u have absoultly no idea what ur talking about!

I had never heard this song before but I had to wiki the artist to make sure it wasn't a mislabeled Postal Service song. Xerox copy. That's fine. What makes the whole thing extremely shady to me is that the guy is like oh no, I mean, sure they are an influence but we didn't copy them. It's like as if the Faint denied any 80s influences on their music. LAUGHABLE.

Countless reviews for Ocean Eyes have popped up after the success of "Fireflies." A myriad of critics have already shown their distaste for the album, some going as far as to say "Owl City is largely a vehicle for the one song Adam Young knows how to make." Truly astounding to me is how many people are in denial when comparing this Owl City to the Postal Service. I honestly don't know what deep delusional state you have to be in that you actually fail to see the sickeningly obvious similarities.

A previous comment cited that Owl City lyrics were more "poetic"? Oh please, spare me. "To ten million fireflies/I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes." It takes a real poetic genius to come up with THAT brilliant line. Most hilarious perhaps are those who make excuses for him. The following comment by Amanda stood out to me the most: "He's an insomniac, how much sense do you expect him to make when he hasn't slept for days?"

You know what Amanda? I really don't expect him to make that much sense. However the logical thing to do in his position is to try to get a few winks of sleep; putting out another fluffy, talentless synth-pop album isn't doing anyone any favors.

Who cares. I like both bands. Stop f ucking whining about this sh it. Do you have a band that has ever sold thousands of albums? Ya I didn't think so. Shut the f uck up and either listen or turn off the f ucking speakers.

What an awful post. They never said every single lyric in the song was "pensive" - you picked out one example out of dozens which clearly doesn't fit... hurray for you?

Perhaps they were referring to a different lyric, like...

"I'd like to make myself believe / that planet earth turns slowly / it's hard to say that I'd rather stay awakee when I'm asleep / because my dreams are bursting at the seams"

Meh, I thought it was a new Postal Service song at first, but who cares. They're both good bands, there's plenty of room in my music library for more music like this.

okay, for those of you claiming that owl city is a rip-off of both the postal service and death cab for cutie, you're out of your damn mind. they are two completely different bands. just because ben gibbard is a part of them doesn't make them the same. postal service is synthesizers and death cab is guitars and keyboards. get it through your thick ignorant skulls. i'm willing to bet that some of the people writing those reviews haven't even listened to most of their music. not that im putting down the bands in the least. death cab is one of my favorite bands and postal service was incredible as well. but just because adam's music sounds like TPS doesn't make it a "blatant ripoff". ever heard of a GENRE? owl city has amazing songs. and im not just talking about fireflies and vanilla twilight. try listening to if my heart was a house, meteor shower, on the wing, etc. he is very talented with lyrics and with music.
bottom line - the postal service is the only band that you could reasonably compare with owl city. and TPS's music, although spectacular, is riddled with bitter and cynical lyrics and melodies (which i love anyway); while owl city is much more light-hearted and happy. SO EVERYONE JUST BACK OFF AND LET HIM KEEP MAKING MUSIC THE WAY HE PLEASES. it's obviously working for him.

Owl City sucks. His lyrics are silly and insipid. UGH! Every time I happen upon one of his songs, I start hulking out.

Scroll up, read Dan's post from Dec 14 if you hadn't already. I totally agree.
Its not that there can't be more than one band in a genre, which many are arguing. The point is Ben Gibbard/TPS is beyond just being lumped into the indie synthpop genre, just as a Jackson Pollack piece can be pointed out from a mile away in the dark in a museum filled with other abstract impressionist pieces. You can probably name hundreds of bands that can be grouped into the same genre as TPS, but can you find a group that sounds just as similar to them as Owl City? No one even came close to creating a sound and vocal style TPS created, that is until Owl City came along. Seriously, think long and hard, research it and come back in a few days and let me know if you can find a group that sounds as eerily similar- not just with the beats and electronic influence but ALSO with the same vocal style- as TPS.

While I am going to be saying the same thing as several others before me, I still feel compelled to do so.

I have enjoyed all of Postal Service's Give Up album since I purchased it waaaaay back when. Like many others, when I heard Fireflies on the radio, I took a mental note of it and Googled it when I got home, excited to hear fresh material from TPS which sounded far more upbeat than their former effort.

I was disappointed to find it wasn't them, but Fireflies was so infectious that I decided to go ahead and get it so that I could hear all of it's intricacies. After research and further listening, I was pleased to find that many of the instrumentals were done by him. Also, it's undeniable that all the music works together to move you and put you in an almost giddy mood. His talent is evident, and his production is superb. His lyricism is playful and sometimes almost over-the-top in the goofy department, but its effect on you is something that you can find almost nowhere else.

Back to TPS vs. Owl City... I still am capable of hearing some similarities, but it's a rarity that I'd prefer listening to TPS because it oftentimes leaves me feeling down about life while Owl City has the opposite effect. The production and delivery is occasionally similar. If you read the top review of Ocean Eyes on Amazon, it concisely and informatively makes a comparison/contrast between the 2. It is worth the read and will perhaps makes you think twice before calling Owl City a "rip off."

Cheers to well-made music!

You cannot judge someones intellect by the music they listen to. Just because the one song, "fireflies" does not have very deep lyrics doesn't mean the fans wouldn't understand anything deeper. You have to see that only this song really made it big. So many of Adam's other songs are phenomenal, but everyone is too absorbed in "fireflies" to really see that. I don't honestly even like "fireflies" because his earlier work, pre-label, was much better in my opinion. But that's just it, everyone is entitled to an opinion, you don't have to listen to other people's opinions though, so stop taking them to heart.

if you have listened to any postal service songs you know that you cant bash them and cmpare them to owl city. ben gibbard is a beast death cab for cutie the postal serivce are you serious???? dont get me wrong fireflies is a great song and very catchy i like it... needless to say dont bash the posal service you ingrateful hipsters

The real question is why anyone would even imitate the postal service anyways. And why would anyone care if they ripped off a band that stinks in the first place? They're both awful. So who cares? Crap imitating crap.

if you people don't like Owl City, then why are you even on a page concerning them? stop hating and get a life.

I feel conflicted here. It cannot be denied that the two sound similar and it does frustrate me to know end that Adam Young has clearly taken vocal cues from Gibbard to the point that it could set a precedence for vocal plagiarism. Having said all that, I think it would be remiss to discredit Mr. Young. He clearly puts a lot of effort into his works and they are richly layered as well as original. Furthermore, when looking at the messages in the lyrics one is light-hearted and I dare say bubble-gummy, the other does have a broader range. Like it or not, Such Great Heights was the the only good song on The Postal Services album and were definitely more exploratory in terms of the composition whereas OC is a little heavy on the gloss. I sound heavy handed with Owl City I realize, but I genuinely like the stuff. Ocean Eyes borders on being sickly sweet, so much so that I find it enduring. I found more to chew on with PS but it should be compulsory to dig and nag at my soul to enjoy music. Ocean Eyes is an exercise in auditory hedonism and that's okay!
On a separate note I would also like to point out to people who might attempt to defame The Postal Service are a little silly. Without such a band there would be no room for Owl City and others like him. Face it, most of you were introduced to the Postal Service because your older brothers or sisters were listening to them, and now you find yourselves listening to OC 6 years later? Both groups are good for different reasons and one person may not like the other but do everyone a favor and give credit where credit is due. I am not comparing the PS to them when I say this, but where would music be without the Velvet Underground, or the Beatles? Where would Lady Gaga be without Madonna? Don't discount other bands because you spend your day trying to non-conform like all the other non-conformists at Urban Outfitters, you petulant sock puppets of the Disney Channel.

one thing.... people keep bashing the lyrics of Fireflies.... IT'S ABOUT A DREAM HE HAD; OF COURSE IT DOESN'T MAKE COMPLETE SENSE! don't say things unless you know what your talking about please.

Okay guys I have read every post and I find that most of you just need to relax. Okay yeah Owl City sounds sort of like Such Great Heights.
The people that are all talking about Gibberd being such a musical genius with TPS and Death Cab did you ever think to look past Owl City to the other bands that Adam Young has been a part of?
"Oh yeah I forgot that I needed to be unbiased and look at both sides of the story."
Do yourself a favor and look up Swimming With Dolphins and Port Blue before you make up any accusations of blatant copying. Adam Young has had an electric feel in every band he's been with and he did not hear the Postal Service's album and say I'm going to copy that. You guys need to do research before you insult. Yes Postal Service and Owl City are good and both guys have been in other bands before so don't just associate them with one band. Thanks hope that helped.

First, you have to define exactly what "ripping off the sound of and independent band" is. Why would a reasonable person feel that Owl City is "ripping off the sound" of The Postal Service when they have similar, but uniquely different music? Mabey The Postal Service and fans of it (and reporters of various national publications) should feel not "ripped off," but rather complimented not only that Owl City creates music similar to The Postal Service, thereby extending whatever legacy they had, but also taking it to a uniquely different level for a different audience. Mabey we should focus on collaboration and appreciation of other bands' differences, instead of accusing them of "ripping off" their colleagues.

First of all, I love Owl City and The Postal Service AND Death Cab for Cutie. I have a feeling half of the people comparing Owl City to TPS don't know that Owl City is just 1 guy (Adam Young, not "they") and the singer of TPS is the singer of DCFC. And if I remember correctly, it was Jimmy that came up with most of the beats and music for TPS. Owl City= Upbeat and Happy. TPS= Mellow

Ok - well I know the music of both bands well and Owl City is a rip-off of The Postal Service - but only really to the degree they take the (very) unique indie-pop synth sound of The Postal Service however they add pop lyrics and hence create a different type of music.

Let's get it clear that The Postal Service are not emo and the clever part of their music is the way they mix thoughtful and meaningful lyrics with indie-pop synth music. And as for them not having released an album for 7 years - true but I take it you've heard of Death Cab for Cutie (the lead singer is one half of The Postal Service) and they released an excellent album (Narrow Stairs) in 2008.

It really is a shame that Owl City lack depth in their music and really are just modern pop synth - like La Roux or Frankmusik. Good fun but sadly nothing more.

it isnt about the sound its about the meaning, the feel of the music and lyrics. owl city has a different feeling to the postal service because they are not the same people.
some people will connect more to owl city's music while others the postal service. it just depends how you listen to the music.

You are an idiot if you can't see that owl city completely rips off the postal service. It's like the difference between a van gogh and someone on the street corner selling knock-offs with the same thick painted brush strokes. One is genuine and a real invention, and the other is just a copy.

Whats sad isnt that adam young completely rips off ben gibbard and ps, but that most people don't even care. its the death of art, and rewards someone who doesnt have the courage or imagination to come up with a style of his own.