SOUND BITES

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 o...

PORTUGAL. THE MAN Creep In A T-Shirt From: Evil Friends Released: June 4 Long admired for their uniqueness and prolificness (to date they've released seven albums in seven years), PTM is finally starting to gain a little traction; Evil Friends , their second album for Atlantic, has seen moderate radio success. Given that Danger Mouse (best known for helping The Black Keys go nuclear) had a hand in its creation doesn't hurt, of course, but let's give credit to the band's penchant for crafting an album with so much appeal without compromising the band's core sound. Just listen to all the lunacy going on during highlight (and yet non-single) Creep In A T-Shirt , then try to get it out of your head for the rest of the day. Good luck with that.

PORTUGAL. THE MAN Sleep Forever / Got it All (This Can't Be Living Now) From: In the Mountain In the Cloud Released: July 19 Portugal. The Man can be a pretty confusing band.  The grammatical challenges their name presents to writers like myself notwithstanding, their career has taken a rather bizarre trajectory in recent years.  Some of you may recall People Say for being included on their 2009 album The Satanic Satanist and that year's edition of Year in Rock.  Well, 2010 saw them release another new album (in fact, since their 2006 inception, they've released at least one new album every year) in March, followed by the announcement a month later that they'd signed a major label contract with Atlantic.  They promptly ran back into the studio and recorded a new album over the summer before releasing a video in October... for People Say.  Whaaaaa? The new album, In the Mountain In the Cloud (oh sure, they'll use periods where they don...