photo via portugal the man myspace
I've listened to these guys for a few years now and they continue to develop beyond my expectations. Their style has such a huge range, I believe everyone would like at least one of their albums. Those that dive into experimental rock with lots of samples would be drawn to albums such as Waiter: "You Vultures!" and It's Complicated Being a Wizard. To get some spacey, but down to earth at the same time, listen to Censored Colors. And for just really colorful experimental rock and roll, Church Mouth and The Satanic Satanist. Their EPs have a strange feeling of falling somewhere right between all of those moods and I'm a really big fan of The Pines and The Devil.
Anyways, as of March 2010, Portugal. The Man has started a sort of prerelease sale for their newest album, American Ghetto. You buy the actual album which is released sometime in May on CD and Vinyl. But in that purchase, you get the option to download the album in several formats, most notably FLAC, my favorite, and some high quality 320kbs MP3s.
Past fans may have a little trouble adopting this album, but after a few play throughs everything clicks and is awesome. American Ghetto goes towards a sample and really riff driven sound, and keeps that twangy rock n' roll sound somehow with some playful solos. I'm just going to highlight on my favorite song of the album, When The War ends. It slips away from the nature of the rest of the album and blasts off to a really distant mood, but once the lyrics come in, it becomes very joyful. Somehow, they managed to put in such a unique song but over all it feels right in place with the rest of the album right at the end, summing everything up.
Other tracks to enjoy: The Dead Dog and 60 Years. Don't forget, John Gourley's lyrics still are insane and are composed of some kind of elaborate metaphors that could only be thought up in Wasilla, Alaska.
