Portugal The Man- American Ghetto

In the press release Portugal The Man issued about American Ghetto, the band's leader John Gourley explains that “American Ghetto was an album that, though drum machined and programmed and synthesized, maintained a lot of feeling and the soul and heart of what this band is.” This is a surprisingly honest and accurate assessment coming from an album's creator; normally they try to come off as literate and obscurantist even when talking about a stripped down album (I'm looking at you, Matt Friedberger, and the stuff you said about I'm Going Away, rambling about Taxi and Titanic like you did). Any any rate, the short turnaround time between this album and last year's damned good The Satanic Satanist led me to believe it would be either a dramatic departure or more of the same, but not as good.

American Ghetto is more of the same: indie rock mixed up with funk and soul/R&B in a way reminiscent of recent Of Montreal releases but less experimental and more consistent. However, it's also “more of the same but still good.” There is indeed a more synthetic and programmed feel to this album, with drum loops and even some samples mixed in. Yet Ghetto has a surprisingly “live” and grooving sound even if it lacks the energy of a full band playing together in the studio. 'The Pushers Party' has incredibly solid drum lines and some Hendrix-ian guitar licks, complete with distortion and wah-wah pedal; one imagines it will be a delight live. At the same time, tracks like 'When The War Ends' have a throwaway feel that belies the album's quick short production. The trite, impersonal, and dull political lyrics don't help, but it's the seemingly tacked on, unnecessary sitars and overwhelmingly stuffed layers of sound that bring it down. Some more finesse and time in the studio could have brought stuff like this in line, as well as the sense that sometimes the songs go on for a minute too long.

However, John Gourley's infallibly keen sense of melodies and hooks is perhaps even sharper than it was on The Satanic Satanist. Opener 'The Dead Dog' sort of sounds like the lithe, falsetto Jack White of 'My Doorbell' mixed with a drum loop/sample straight off one of Beck's Odelay ancestor albums like Guero. And if the lyrical hook of '60 Years' doesn't immediately stick with you, I don't know what will. Gourley simply has a way with delivering lyrics in relation to both melody and rhythm that is one of those things that set apart the Portugal The Man's of the world from the Static Of The Gods's. I do wish there were more surprises like the funk jam outro of 'Fantastic Pace', but maybe that's just me.

If American Ghetto doesn't have the same Summer-y ease and refinement of The Satanic Satanist, it's still just as successful and enjoyable in different ways. Think of it as the darker, harder edged flipside of the Satanist coin.

Note: I could not get the album cover image to upload or hotlink for the life of me, but if you really want to find it, you can.

5 Poorly Drawn Stars Out Of 5

Portugal.The Man- The Satanic Satanist

On their last album, Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket often made ill advised forays into falsetto driven funk and white boy R&B-isms. It came off as almost as a joke to these ears, like something they should've relegated to the outtake bin or a throwaway EP. Granted, while I like funk and R&B, I don't actively listen to either. They aren't part of the music I "follow", so to speak, so the few times they intersect the music I love, it often feels forced or bad. Strangely, then, I find Portugal. The Man (yes, it's punctuated that way, period and all) to be a successful example of an indie rock band picking up on funk/soul/R&B and doing something fun and satisfying with it.

True, the band's name is unwieldy. True, the album art for the CD edition is some kind of weird fold-out thing that is awesome but, along with the album title (which nods to the Rolling Stones's Their Satanic Majesties Request, or so I assume), it will make you expect something far more psychedelic and weird than what is on display. That said, The Satantic Satanist does bring to mind a lot of late 60s and 70s music in a general sense. The band's hooks and melodic moments show a gift for songwriting that belies a youth spent listening to classic rock and pop tunes.

It's pretty strange that members of the band come from Alaska, since this album has such a fun, summery sound to it. The commanding opening song 'People Say' leads directly into the next song 'Work All Day' on a chorus of voices and a groovy organ line before the funky beat of the latter song kicks in. 'The Sun' display's singer John Gourley's excellent falsetto-reaching vocals in full; at times he can sound like Jack White if Jack White could sing in the sense that 60s pop/rock bands could sing, on key and clear. Whether built with loops or not, there's no denying the grooves and rhythms of songs like the psychedelic tinged 'Everyone Is Golden.' Closer 'Mornings' is appropriately epic in feel but still makes time to nod back to the soldier motif of the first song, giving the album a cyclical feel.

Bonus points for keeping it short; it helps a lot that at less than 35 minutes the album never repeats an idea or overstays its welcome. After each subsequent listen I found myself wanting to hear the album more and more, to dig back into the rocking 'Do You' or the subtle bongos on the chorus of 'Lovers In Love.' There's just something about succint-but-awesome albums that make them endlessly listenable, from Revolver by the Beatles to Surfer Rosa by Pixies to In Rainbows by Radiohead.

The Satantic Satanist is a pleasant surprise of an album, a bonafide summer release that sounds great while drinking down the sun with some friends or while cruising home after you get out of work on a Friday. And while more often than not, bands you've never heard of tend to be terrible and overrated by their local fans and press, Portugal. The Man are one example of a band that I feel deserves more attention and love, if only because they prove that if your songwriting and music is good enough, you can make a R&B/soul/funk tinged album that even I can love.