IN REVIEW: Portugal. The Man - "Woodstock"

Fans of Portugal. The Man have had to endure what feels like an eternity waiting for the Portland via Alaska band's eighth album. The four year gap between it and previous album Evil Friends doesn't feel so egregious in this day and age, but when you're dealing with a band whose first seven albums were released over a span of just over seven years (and whose longest gap between albums previously was a paltry 23 months), Woodstock feels a very long time coming.

The company line is that P.T.M. shelved an album that had pretty much been completed, opting instead to take their time and ensure top quality for Woodstock. It's a sensible and understandable strategy, as the group must have been feeling some pressure; after toiling in the fringes for years, Evil Friends and the moderate success of singles Purple Yellow Red and Blue and Modern Jesus helped earn them some long overdue attention.

As such, it also makes sense that Woodstock finds P.T.M. looking to build on that success. The resulting album is their most blatant attempt at mainstream, or at least the mainstream as interpreted by the outsiders looking in. It has a slick sound with a sharper focus on hooks and keyboards, as well as plenty of vocal effects and even a guest verse by rapper Fat Lip on Mr Lonely. However, if any band could benefit from a pop-leaning transformation, it's this band; these pop sensibilities have been bubbling under the surface for years, and the manifestation here feels less like a forced attempt and more like an inevitability. To be sure, they own it and make it work, such as on the slinky and sinister Rich Friends, the snappy and sunny Keep On and (especially) the thumping and freaky Noise Pollution.

Naturally, some will turn up their noses at Woodstock's commercial aspirations, but it's important to note that much of the band's oddball charm is fully intact, not to mention the fact that a mainstream with the soulful, Please Mr. Postman-interpolating Feel It Still being the smash that it is can only serve to make the mainstream just a little more palatable. This isn't Linkin Park selling their blueprints for some gold dust, and it's not a door slamming shut on longtime fans. I feel Portrugal. The Man's evolution was going to bring them here eventually and, now that the time has come to meet the masses, they've done so with only the most tasteful concessions to their core sound.

June 16, 2017 • Atlantic
Highlights Feel It Still • Rich Friends • Keep On