Florida has its fair share of indie-pop bands, but none have garnered national attention this year like The Postmarks. The Miami trio released their self-titled debut album in January, and a buzz typically only created by the city's rappers reverberated across the rock world. What makes The Postmarks so endearing — both to Beatles die-hards and Battles-loving hipsters — is its delicate balance of instantly appealing hooks and sophisticated arrangements that make for a rewarding headphones trip.
Multi-instrumentalist Christopher Moll crafts the sound in conjunction with Jonathan Wilkins. Tim Yehezkely, the group's lone woman, provides the romantic, but never cloying, lyrics — as well as the breathy, daydream vocals. Glowing reviews of the album have appeared in everything from Rolling Stone and Spin to the snarky online publication Pitchfork.
"It's cool because everything has come as a real surprise," Moll said during a recent phone interview. "Now, I'm just wishing for things to jump into full swing."
Moll sounded a bit frustrated. Turns out that despite write-ups in the nation's most influential music journals and a successful national tour, he still has to juggle music with a cubicle gig.
"I'm a graphic artist," he says. "It's not too exciting."
Reflecting on the year's highlights, Moll mentioned playing Lollapalooza and being on an episode of the Nick Jr. show Yo Gabba Gabba! The latter is a children's television series hosted by a character named DJ Lance Rock. The Shins, Biz Markie and Shiny Toy Guns have also appeared on the program.
"It reminded me of The Muppet Show," Moll said. "Which was great because that was something I watched a lot growing up."
It makes sense that The Postmarks' gorgeous melodies and non-threatening lyrics — although there is a mysterious element to many of the songs — would go over well with an audience that includes both pre-K kids and their parents. The band's timeless sound has led critics to compare Moll with melodic geniuses like Burt Bacharach.
"I would say that he is [an influence]," Moll said. "I think where we pick up on him is a lot of the bossa nova music. It's very melodic. I've always picked up on that. The voicings, that lilt, it's almost like a musical sigh."
The Postmarks' rich pop sound has made people scratch their heads when they learn the trio is from Miami, a city best known for producing nightlife soundtracks, Latin pop and thug rap.
"Down here, there isn't much of a scene" for the style of music we make, Moll said. "We're kind of left to our own devices. You just got to find your own way, just try and find ways to do things that work for us."
Does Moll ever indulge in his hometown's famed club scene?
"It's been a long time since I've been to South Beach," he said with a laugh.
The Postmarks' second album is coming in "drips and drabs." But an interesting stopgap project is under way. It's called "By the Numbers," and will find the band releasing a series of cover songs once a month for a year. Moll wouldn't give up the names of any tunes but said each selection will have a numeral in the title. The songs will be released online-only via an as-yet-unconfirmed "major Internet music store." Fans should start looking for the covers as early as October. I took the liberty of suggesting they start with Harry Nilsson's "One." But Moll didn't buy into it.
"We want to choose songs that will stretch us musically," Moll said. "We're still coming up with the list. It's difficult with some of them."
After finishing the interview with Moll last week, I posted my own list of "Songs by the Numbers" (see sidebar) on my blog tampacalling.com. The Postmarks' Jonathan Wilkins responded:
"We were thinking about Nilsson's 'One,' but, for me, it's really associated with [Aimee] Mann and the Magnolia soundtrack," he wrote. "I suggested The Smiths' "Stop Me if You Think You've Heard This One Before," but it was recently crucified by Mark Ronson, and we skipped it. Too bad, 'cause I think we could have nailed it."
Wilkins' post continues: "The songs will be from numbers 1 to 12. There are several on your list that were/are in contention. I think people will be surprised by the variety. Although I really think we should have opened it with "Going for the One" by Yes or "5-4=Unity" by Pavement. Nothing like pissing off the indie/prog-rock geeks."
Hopefully, The Postmarks will debut a couple of their "By the Numbers" selections when they perform with The Apples in Stereo and Aqueduct on Saturday at Crowbar in Ybor City.
"I've noticed every time we play Tampa, it's really a party town," Moll said. "People don't mince words or alcohol. Audiences have been pretty rowdy and drunk. I'm looking forward to it. I like rowdy Tampa audiences."
This article appears in Sep 26 – Oct 2, 2007.