Owl City - "Fireflies"

And I thought, for one breathless moment, that Postal Service had returned.

As the song wore on, I felt cheated. Then I realized it was merely a pale imitation. When I found that this imitator, this, "Fireflies," rose to claim the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. I was furious.

What. The. Hell.

From the, ahem, fluttering electronics that waft up from the opening second to the semi-conscious choir boy vocals, it quickly becomes apparent that Owl City aims for a bastardized, mainstreamed version of that far superior band and its far superior album.

Part of this guy's problem is that he confuses the childlike wonder with which Gibbard wrote on Give Up with downright childishness. Gibbard managed to spin mundane observations into literate, witty wordplay ("I kissed you in a style Clark Gable would have admired," goes my personal favorite), whereas Owl City rhymes "a thousand hugs" with "lightning bugs." Yea, my brain hurt too when first I heard it.

A great deal of what made Give Up such a unique release were the electronics themselves. They were shambling and imperfect, Dntel's trademark. However, this ragtag assortment of synths and drum machines was perfectly assembled and was as arresting as the lyricism.

But whoever is behind the music of Owl City is deaf. Bargain basement music software collides with sterility in spades, especially on "Fireflies." It's boring as sin.

There are a few things that made both Postal Service and Give Up as special as they are, which are resistant to such bastardization. This turns out to be very fortunate for them.

And so very unfortunate for Owl City.