MTV Buzzworthy Blog › The Postal Service

When you type "Owl City Sound Like Postal Service" into that magic little Google contraption you get 280,000 results. Now, I'm sure some are about owls. Some are about cities. And I bet a bunch are about the mail.

But even if you siphon off some of the results, this is clearly a hot-button issue. I, personally can't believe that 60 Minutes hasn't jumped on this already, but we'll take it on here at BW.

Owl City is, more or less, Minnesotan musician Adam Young; he tours with a more fleshed-out band, but he does all the heavy lifting in the studio. They are incredibly popular. Their jam, "Fireflies" is a top 10 hit. It also sounds A LOT like Ben Gibbard (main man of Death Cab For Cutie) and Jimmy Tamborello's electronic-pop duo The Postal Service.

A LOT.

So, the question is this: does that matter? I don't personally think so. While I never encourage full-on biting of another artist's style, one would have to point at the Postal-Service-shaped void left in our pop landscape right now. The Postal Service haven't delivered (hawhaw) anything 2003's Give Up. Now, I'm not a math major, but that feels a lot like six years to me.

So if Postal Service aren't really a going concern, and Owl City make a very pleasant version of Postal-Servicey pop, should we not enjoy it for what it is?

I mean, if your mailman stopped coming for six years, and then a new dude showed up and was equally reliable and nice, would you not take his mail because he's not the same dude? Of course not! So why should it be that much different when it comes to pop?

Marinate on it and feel free to agree or disagree in the comments. And if you need a Cliff's Notes version of the two bands, watch Owl City's "Fireflies" and The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" below.

Tags Death Cab For Cutie, Owl City, The Postal Service, video

Alex Greenwald -- Phantom Planet frontman, Mark Ronson collaborator, and former model -- used to be so freaking hot it was almost impossible to look at him without thinking "nasty thoughts," as Janet Jackson once said. But not long ago, a paparazzi photo popped up in which the once-smokin' Alex looked like a straight-up hobo. Still, who'd he have hanging on his arm? British supermodel and Met Ball belle Agyness Deyn.

While we've got no problem with some slight shagginess, Alex Greenwald has seen better days, and his unkempt hair looks gnarlier than ever. (A tip: lather, rinse, repeat... repeat... repeat...) Still, Alex bagged a supermodel, so maybe the joke's on us.

Anyway, the shaggy/smoldering combo of Alex Greenwald and Agyness Deyn reminded us of some more hot chicks and the mangy men they love. So check out more of Buzzworthy's favorite guys who look like they live in boxcars and the beautiful babes who love them anyway.

Ryan Adams: Alt-country musician Ryan Adams won the heart of pop-folk singer Mandy Moore, who's had high-profile romances with tennis hunk Andy Roddick as well as Wilmer Valderrama and Zach Braff, while Ryan dated pretty Parker Posey. But it was ultra-shaggy Ryan who swept Mandy off her feet: Ryan and Mandy got married just last month. Hopefully the groom, uh, groomed for the big day.

Alex DeLeon: Okay, Alex DeLeon -- who's been linked to the radiant Demi Lovato -- used to be way more polished, but when he came to MTV for The Cab's Buzzworthy interview in March 2009, his broken-ended hair, fuzzy facial hair and leather accessories kinda made him look like he was running from the law. Bring back unquestionably hot Alex!

Ben Gibbard: Indie superstar Ben Gibbard's sensitive vocals are the perfect match for Zooey Deschanel. Zooey, dubbed "the rich man's Katy Perry" -- oh snap! -- by one site, has had leading roles in a slew of movies like Elf, where she showed off her vocal cords and her adorablility. Even though the oft-unshaven Ben's been featured on UglyMales.com (to the objection of many commenters, to be fair), he and Zooey matched up not only musically, but they're also engaged. Aww! Indie romance!

Joe Trohman: It's clear that Pete Wentz-ian man-glam is not Joe Trohman's style. But there are other ways to stand out besides looking like a homeless man who wandered off the street and onto the stage. His disheveled, mountain-man look has still been described as "wonderfully hobo-esque meets Jesus." True! We're not saying Joe's not hot. We just miss his From Under The Cork Tree-era/ "Dance Dance" short hair. Still, he nabbed a super-cute girl and put a ring on dat; he and Marie (above) are engaged.

+ More hobo guys and hot girls after the jump.

Read more...

Tags Agyness Deyn, Alex DeLeon, Alex Greenwald, Ben Gibbard, Cisco-Adler, Death Cab For Cutie, Demi Lovato, Devendra Banhart, Fall Out Boy, Joe Trohman, Mandy Moore, Phantom Planet, Ryan Adams, The Cab, The Postal Service, Zooey Deschanel

(Credit: Liebe E.P.)

For once, before we get into the band, let's take a minute to acknowledge how cool the video is. As far as I can tell, "Let Me Drive" by Winter Gloves (directed by Benjamin Weinstein) is as lo-fi, lo-budge, no-tech as a thing can be. And yet it's loaded with special effects. The whole video -- including performance clips, surreal unicorn-lady inserts and dance sequences -- plays out on a series of flipbooks.

Within seconds you forget the thumbs that are making the magic happen, and see only the frame-by-frame animated action. I suppose it's basically the same thing as a regular animated video, but somehow seeing the actual pages flip by makes it that much more incredible.

Moving on. Winter Gloves. Who are they? What began as the pet project of a mysterious guy called Charles F, who kept the lonely out of his Montreal apartment by playing music, has since bloomed into a full band. Now a four-piece, they've toured with Tokyo Police Club, You Say Party! We Say Die! and Beast, to name a few, on the strength of quirky, glitchy singles like "Party People" and "About a Girl." They sound kinda like a much happier, more gregarious version of The Postal Service. Does that sound like something you can get into? Watch the sweet video below and find out!

Tags Beast, The Postal Service, Tokyo Police Club, Winter Gloves, You Say Party We Say Die

The chorus of Coldplay's "Life In Technicolor II" ends, "Now my feet won't touch the ground." To video director Douglas Wilson (Dizzee Rascal, Bat For Lashes), who has worked with marionettes in the past, this must have called out like a personal invitation. And wait until you see what he dreamed up!

The "Life In Technicolor II" video takes the "painfully normal" vibe that Jared Hess (The Postal Service, Napoleon Dynamite) made famous and expands it into a full-on rock 'n roll fantasy. Watch as a boring, suburban kindergarten puppet show comes to life with Marshall stacks, fireworks, helicopters and, of course, crowd surfing. Amazing!

+ Watch Coldplay's "Life In Technicolor II"

Tags Bat For Lashes, Coldplay, Dizzee Rascal, Napoleon Dynamite, The Postal Service