Summer Arts Preview 2013: Pop, Rock & Jazz

Highlights Include The Postal Service, Pure Bathing Culture, Damian Marley

<b>TOGETHER AGAIN:</b> Ten years after the release of their first and only album as The Postal Service, Benjamin Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello have reteamed for a reunion tour.

Ten years ago, long before the second coming of synth rock, there was The Postal Service. The curveball one-off project from Death Cab for Cutie crooner Ben Gibbard, Rilo Kiley songbird Jenny Lewis, and Santa Barbara synth master Jimmy Tamborello only spawned one album (the still glorious Give Up), but it attracted an army of fanatics who have stayed resolute in their prayers for a reunion. And now, finally, in celebration of Give Up’s big 1-0, those fanatics are getting what they wished for. For the unacquainted, The Postal Service’s sound is about as prime for summertime listening as it gets. The guitars are delicately plucked, the lyrics are soft-spoken and romantic, and the bleeps, bloops, and synthy beats can both start a dance party and make you weak in the knees. Now, imagine hearing “Such Great Heights” come to life from atop the hill at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Yeah. It’s the stuff summer concert season is made of. Saturday, July 20 at 7 p.m. Call (805) 962-7411 or visit sbbowl.com.