Formed in Alaska but currently residing in Portland, OR, this quintet, led by guitarist/vocalist John Gourley, espouses brainiac indie rock eclecticism that's focused on bending pop grooves, electronica and hip-hop to their will. It's a state of mind that makes their music wildly diverse and everywhere and anywhere at once. Despite their smarter-than-thou attitude—which demands much from listeners—this is also a band that knows how to write insanely catchy hooks. The minute-long opening track, "Heavy Games II (feat. Jeff Bhasker)" opens with simple acoustic piano backed with voices. The brief lyrics come to a quick conclusion: "Heavy games can't take this back/ Cause the present has a past/ Now I'm fucked up forever." In anthemic second track, "Grim Generation," brass accents highlight the choir vocals, an impressive groove and a vocal processor that makes Gourley's falsetto flutter.  The digital magic crests in big beat "Thunderdome [W.T.A.]" as more high voices sing, "You know you want it/ If you leave somebody you love" before guest rapper Black Thought rhymes.  They take a shot at creating another anthem like their 2017 hit, "Feel It Still," with the big "Summer of Luv," a slow groove collaboration with New Zealand's Unknown Mortal Orchestra that by its end becomes a sticky sweet pop single. Recorded at a number of different studios and produced by Jeff Bhasker, the sound of Chris Black Changed My Life (named for a friend of the band who died in 2019), is processed and groomed to a fine edge. While the hooks slow and then disappear in later tracks with guests Edgar Winter and Paul Williams, Gourley and his mates are astute aggregators of different musical styles—all of which focus on vocals and have interest in filling a dance floor. After a halo of voices raised in mock praise winnows down to silence, Paul Williams ends the album by saying, "And before you see that whole forest fire you see this massive cloud of smoke/ And it's cinematic, it's just biblical/ In the end does it just become entertainment/ Wow that's a fantastic looking fire that's about to sweep through me." Uh … heavy. Clever at blending diverse influences and very self-aware, this is a quintet with ideas and ambition to burn. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

Portugal. The Man are a clever lot; the major-label indie rockers are no strangers to well-conceived mischief, whether it's in videos, on-stage antics, or subtly hidden subversions in song lyrics. None of this will come across as blatantly as it does on Woodstock, the band's eighth studio album and first in four years. Woodstock was actually recorded twice; with producer Mike D and a lot of time, they cut enough material for a double album, then chucked it all, starting again with only fragments from the early sessions. The title was inspired by frontman John Gourley's dad's first-day ticket stub from the Woodstock festival, so much so that set opener "Number One" is electronically enhanced indie dance-psych that samples Richie Havens' "Freedom" from the Woodstock festival's soundtrack in the intro. Guest vocalist Son Little takes his tune and interweaves it with the band's contrasting melody and lyrics. On this set, Portugal. The Man continue to work with Mike D. but also with Danger Mouse and John Hill. They enlisted no less than nine engineers and more than 20 guest musicians and singers, and Woodstock sounds like it. It's an enormous-sounding, splashy album.While the recording contains the band's hyperkinetic, sometimes frantic tapestry of sounds from neo-psych to glam and indie (in places), they've upped their "commercial" ante considerably as evidenced by single "Feel It Still," which has a punchy, fingerpopping rhythm worthy of both Pharrell Williams and Mark Ronson, complete with bumping brass, crisp snares, and Gourley's falsetto. The irony of such an overt pop single isn't lost on the band: They've printed T-shirts that read "I was into Portugal. The Man before they sold out." The pop approach is subversive but you'll need to get to the various song's lyrics to discover it. (No spoilers.) Check the nocturnal loop and groove of "Easy Tiger" that weaves traces of glam and multi-layered psych into its dubby, club-floor stomp. While "Keep On" contains ghost traces of the band's indie past, it's more influenced by alternative R&B and still rocks. The Pharcyde's Fatlip guests on the wonderful, snare/hi-hat/acid-tinged zaniness that is "Mr. Lonely," while the hip-hop drums and Hill's multi-layered, Brian Wilson-esque swooping vocal and backmasked Baroque psych production on "Tidal Wave" are infectious. Closer "Noise Pollution" offers an upfront vocal mix with Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Zoe Manville adding a prominent vocal chorus into the meld of psychedelic pop, hip-hop, and dancefloor tropes in a dense production by Mike D. It'll be interesting to observe how P.TM's longtime fans react to Woodstock, or if it will even matter. They'll certainly retain enough of their base to chart, but the bet is, given how accessible and attractive (and yes, derivative) their loopy brand of pop is, they'll attract an entirely new crop of fans to compensate. Pump your fist, be "a rebel just for kicks now," and most of all, dance like your life depended on it. As far as P.TM is concerned, it does.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

Portugal. The Man found the opportunity to work with Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton so important that they scrapped two weeks of recording -- and eight of ten new songs -- in order to start fresh. Changing studio locations from El Paso to Danger Mouse's headquarters in L.A., the collaboration results in the band's most accessible and "mainstream" recording to date. The punchy, rhythm-driven elements in Danger Mouse's production create an elastic tension when contrasted with the band's loopy, hooky, guitar-centric, psych core. He doesn't change their sound, but brightens it, adding textural layers, to make it more dynamic and punchy. Set-opener "Plastic Soldiers" reveals that John Gourley's songwriting, with its wonderfully idiosyncratic world view, remains loaded with signifiers from rock's rich past. Strummed acoustic guitar and synth offer a dreamy intro. A little more than a minute later, the snare and handclaps enter, as do an all but hidden squiggly synth, and strings; the tempo picks up and the groove contrasts sharply with the tune's lyrics. "Creep in a T-Shirt," with its treated vocals, piano, whompy electronic keyboards, and synth horns, offers the trace elements of R&B while never leaving the psych behind. "Purple Yellow Red and Blue" is fingerpopping time -- it's almost funky with a popping bassline, low-end breakbeats, almost shimmering acoustic guitars, chorus-style vocals, a chugging B-3, and piano -- while "Hip Hop Kids" (one of the two songs they kept and re-recorded) isn't, its use of the genre's tight, skittering rhythm, which drives a sprawling meld of distorted electric guitars and washed-out keyboards, is an example of the expansive elements that Danger Mouse brings to the rockist bent in P.TM's aesthetic. The album's hinge track, "Atomic Man," shows the other side: a driving rocker with a near chanted backing chorus and fuzzed-out guitars is brightened considerably with a meaty rim shot snare. Though album-closer "Smile" may be the set's least commercial track, it may also be the finest moment on the entire record. In just under five minutes it combines languid balladry, Baroque pop, a rhythm collision, screaming guitars, and strings. Evil Friends offers ample evidence that the match between Portugal. The Man and Burton expanded the horizons of both parties and will likely heighten the band's profile considerably.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

Portugal. The Man found the opportunity to work with Brian "Danger Mouse" Burton so important that they scrapped two weeks of recording -- and eight of ten new songs -- in order to start fresh. Changing studio locations from El Paso to Danger Mouse's headquarters in L.A., the collaboration results in the band's most accessible and "mainstream" recording to date. The punchy, rhythm-driven elements in Danger Mouse's production create an elastic tension when contrasted with the band's loopy, hooky, guitar-centric, psych core. He doesn't change their sound, but brightens it, adding textural layers, to make it more dynamic and punchy. Set-opener "Plastic Soldiers" reveals that John Gourley's songwriting, with its wonderfully idiosyncratic world view, remains loaded with signifiers from rock's rich past. Strummed acoustic guitar and synth offer a dreamy intro. A little more than a minute later, the snare and handclaps enter, as do an all but hidden squiggly synth, and strings; the tempo picks up and the groove contrasts sharply with the tune's lyrics. "Creep in a T-Shirt," with its treated vocals, piano, whompy electronic keyboards, and synth horns, offers the trace elements of R&B while never leaving the psych behind. "Purple Yellow Red and Blue" is fingerpopping time -- it's almost funky with a popping bassline, low-end breakbeats, almost shimmering acoustic guitars, chorus-style vocals, a chugging B-3, and piano -- while "Hip Hop Kids" (one of the two songs they kept and re-recorded) isn't, its use of the genre's tight, skittering rhythm, which drives a sprawling meld of distorted electric guitars and washed-out keyboards, is an example of the expansive elements that Danger Mouse brings to the rockist bent in P.TM's aesthetic. The album's hinge track, "Atomic Man," shows the other side: a driving rocker with a near chanted backing chorus and fuzzed-out guitars is brightened considerably with a meaty rim shot snare. Though album-closer "Smile" may be the set's least commercial track, it may also be the finest moment on the entire record. In just under five minutes it combines languid balladry, Baroque pop, a rhythm collision, screaming guitars, and strings. Evil Friends offers ample evidence that the match between Portugal. The Man and Burton expanded the horizons of both parties and will likely heighten the band's profile considerably.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

For Portugal. The Man's sixth release in only four years, The Satanic Satanist, the band tones down the progressive leanings demonstrated on Church Mouth, and instead, goes for a straight forward, pop approach. With no song extending much longer than four minutes, John Gourley's bright falsetto matches up with breezy harmonies in a Band of Horses/ My Morning Jacket way while the synthesized instrumentation takes a page from MGMT. The slick electro direction is a pleasant change, although it may be a little disconcerting to fans who appreciate the more indulgent side of PTM. For The Satanic Satanist, they walk away from the playgrounds of their past (which included emo, art-folk, and indie rock) and try their hand at chamber pop by filtering their music through a reverby wash, embracing electronica, and elaborately layering stacks of tracks. Reputed producer Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Belly, Lemonheads) gives the sound a crystal sparkle, which, paired with the mellow vibe of the album, makes The Satanic Satanist one of the groups' most accessible and easily digestible to date. © Jason Lymangrover /TiVo

Portugal. The Man are a clever lot; the major-label indie rockers are no strangers to well-conceived mischief, whether it's in videos, on-stage antics, or subtly hidden subversions in song lyrics. None of this will come across as blatantly as it does on Woodstock, the band's eighth studio album and first in four years. Woodstock was actually recorded twice; with producer Mike D and a lot of time, they cut enough material for a double album, then chucked it all, starting again with only fragments from the early sessions. The title was inspired by frontman John Gourley's dad's first-day ticket stub from the Woodstock festival, so much so that set opener "Number One" is electronically enhanced indie dance-psych that samples Richie Havens' "Freedom" from the Woodstock festival's soundtrack in the intro. Guest vocalist Son Little takes his tune and interweaves it with the band's contrasting melody and lyrics. On this set, Portugal. The Man continue to work with Mike D. but also with Danger Mouse and John Hill. They enlisted no less than nine engineers and more than 20 guest musicians and singers, and Woodstock sounds like it. It's an enormous-sounding, splashy album.While the recording contains the band's hyperkinetic, sometimes frantic tapestry of sounds from neo-psych to glam and indie (in places), they've upped their "commercial" ante considerably as evidenced by single "Feel It Still," which has a punchy, fingerpopping rhythm worthy of both Pharrell Williams and Mark Ronson, complete with bumping brass, crisp snares, and Gourley's falsetto. The irony of such an overt pop single isn't lost on the band: They've printed T-shirts that read "I was into Portugal. The Man before they sold out." The pop approach is subversive but you'll need to get to the various song's lyrics to discover it. (No spoilers.) Check the nocturnal loop and groove of "Easy Tiger" that weaves traces of glam and multi-layered psych into its dubby, club-floor stomp. While "Keep On" contains ghost traces of the band's indie past, it's more influenced by alternative R&B and still rocks. The Pharcyde's Fatlip guests on the wonderful, snare/hi-hat/acid-tinged zaniness that is "Mr. Lonely," while the hip-hop drums and Hill's multi-layered, Brian Wilson-esque swooping vocal and backmasked Baroque psych production on "Tidal Wave" are infectious. Closer "Noise Pollution" offers an upfront vocal mix with Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Zoe Manville adding a prominent vocal chorus into the meld of psychedelic pop, hip-hop, and dancefloor tropes in a dense production by Mike D. It'll be interesting to observe how P.TM's longtime fans react to Woodstock, or if it will even matter. They'll certainly retain enough of their base to chart, but the bet is, given how accessible and attractive (and yes, derivative) their loopy brand of pop is, they'll attract an entirely new crop of fans to compensate. Pump your fist, be "a rebel just for kicks now," and most of all, dance like your life depended on it. As far as P.TM is concerned, it does.© Thom Jurek /TiVo