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Portland’s Portugal. The Man delve deeper into indie-pop experimentation

By Troy Farah
Published on 05/03/2012 in Flag Live

April has been a rough month for psychedelic rockers Portugal. The Man. So far, the four Portland, Ore.-based professional weirdoes have fired a touring drummer mid-show for unknown reasons and founding member, Ryan Neighbors, quit to pursue a new project titled Hustle and Drone. Granted, Neighbors’ departure was probably done in good spirits and marks a new chapter in the band’s history—something every band seems to say.

Let’s just hope May is better for The Man, when they’ll be stopping in Flagstaff as part of the Jägermeister Music Tour with the Lonely Forest. This is actually kind of odd, given the history of Jägermeister’s tours, which has normally included acts like Slayer, Korn, Hatebreed and other blood-spilling routines. Sometimes the tour even poured over into ear-bleeding post-grunge acts like Hinder or Trapt, but showcasing meek, hipster dreamers? That’s kind of a new one.

But it’s hardly the weirdest thing regarding Portugal. The Man—to say nothing of the annoying period in the middle of their name. Their records are titled things like Waiter: You Vultures!, and all of their record sleeves are coated in stylish, bizarre, trippy water paintings. Their videos venture into Dadaism: “Do You,” has the quartet dancing around in homemade futuristic garments (bringing to mind the Heaven’s Gate cult); in “Sleep Forever” the band’s vocalist is eaten by his own sled dogs; and “People Say” cakes the faces of the band in Vaseline, blinds them with lasers and forces them to work in a call center.

Portugal. The Man keeps the strange close to heart and it comes naturally, as they toldRedefined Magazine: “We’ve always been pop kids. We like melody; we never do anything for the sake of being weird. We like the sounds of delays, we like synthesizers, and we love anything that can creep you out and hold you there at the same time,” frontman John Baldwin Gourley said, describing the band’s fourth release, The Satanic Satanist. If you haven’t already guessed, the title is a reference to the Rolling Stones’ drug-addled, experimental album, Their Satanic Majesties Request. That may have just been a phase for Mick Jagger and crew, but Portugal. The Man have made experimenting a full-time gig.While the sound of the band, a mix of pop rock and synth-lovin’ indie anthems, is a perfect testament to the psychedelic revival, surrealism is something largely overlooked by other acts. What would Pink Floyd be without inflated rubber pigs hovering over factories? What would the Moody Blues be without quasi-spiritual mumblings about dawn being a feeling? What would Jefferson Airplane be without … well, everything they’ve done?

Speaking of releases, Portugal has kept busy as an art-rock factory, issuing a record per year since their 2006 debut. And yes, that means they are recording a new album this summer. The band went through a period of completely independent releases, but signed to Atlantic Records to release their sixth studio recording, In the Mountain in the Cloud. The band explained to the online music magazine You Ain’t No Picasso their decision to sign to a major label saying, “We’re not even really worried about money, we just want more laser lights.”

Perhaps those laser lights aren’t necessary because the band throws a great show regardless of pizzazz. Portugal knows how to deconstruct their songs, unwinding them into fantastic jam sessions that last precisely the right amount of time. They must have a lot of practice, given that they perform around 250 times a year and are known to branch out, occasionally throwing in a decent cover from David Bowie or MGMT.

The workaholic mentality that Portugal. The Man puts forth has gotten them this far—it’s going to be interesting watching how much further they can go, no matter how many hiccups along the way.

See Portugal. The Man Thu, May 3 at the Orpheum Theater, 15 W. Aspen. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. Washington State-based indie-rockers the Lonely Forest will open the 18-and-older show. Tickets are $17 in advance and $19 at the door. For more info, see www.portugaltheman.com and www.thelonelyforest.com or call 556-1580.