Portugal. The Man a band that has slowly but surely crept up from the ranks of Indie Rock Music in the past five years, and with good reason.    Since 2005, the band has put together 6 albums which is almost unprecedented in today’s music industry and their 6th was released yesterday entitled American Ghetto a title which seems to take shape from the recent depression we are currently in.  The band was a formation of the break up of Anatomy of Ghost, which was formed by John Gourley and Zach Carothers who are currently the founding members of Portugal. The Man.  The band’s name comes from a concept by David Bowie of  a “bigger than life” name so instead of using any band member’s name they decided on this one which was originally supposed to be the title of Gourley’s book which documented the many stories and adventures of his father.  The band’s sound since then has evolved slightly but mostly focusing on a nice mix of  Indie, Experimental, Psychedelic and Funk Rock and more noticeably as of late the use of synthesizers and mixers to add that psychedelic but funky sound.  In a recent interview about the release of American Ghetto Gourley stated the love of creating new songs and bringing them out to the fans immediately.  Since starting their own label to create and produce their music they are able to do this easily with their contract with Equal Vision which allows the label the right to promote and distribute the album at a small cost to the band.  What makes this band so unique is they don’t make a bunch of songs and wait 2 to 3 years to select the one’s for the album because of label obligations, instead they create songs that are enough to put out a record and put it out there immediately.  American Ghetto is the prime example of this and came out barely even 9 months after the release of their critically acclaimed The Satanic Satanist.

The album starts off with the free single they released a few weeks ago entitled “The Dead Dog” which is an instant classic of theirs and probably one of the songs I won’t be able to stop playing because I just enjoy it so much.  After the short “Break” track it goes into the catchy chorus song of “60 Years” that starts off slow but the chorus to the end of the song makes it a notable track.    What is very noticeable on this album is the heavy use of Keys, synth and samples to add the more psychedelic sound the band has slowly added to their Indie Rock sound.  It’s very noticeable on the track “1000 Years” which has keyboards being played almost creepily throughout the song and gives the song an eerie tinge to it.  Probably some of the stronger tracks on the album are “Just A Fool” which is more of the ballad for the album which is slow but very relaxing sounding throughout the track and shows just how in depth this band can be from album to album.  I can’t say this track beats the finale track in Satanist but it’s probably in my favorites for this album because it has a great chorus and really upbeat sound that sort of gives life at the end of the album.  The track is “When The War Ends” which is probably making reference to our efforts in the Middle East and the urge to just get it over with.  I wouldn’t say this album is their best and it’s only because I have so much love for The Satanic Satanist and how well that album was put together, however I would put this up there with Church Mouth and Censored Colors as some of their finest work.  I really enjoy how the band touches different elements on each album and has a classic rock feel but doing their entirely own thing.  I really want people to get into this band because their mentality reminds me a lot of Circa Survive who just do music for the love of it and openly come out and say they’d rather people listen to their music for free then not at all.  The album comes free  as a download with purchase of the Vinyl or CD but if you don’t care about that you can pick this up for only 8 bucks off their website and do them a favor and buy it through them so they get all the money so they don’t have to split it with iTunes.  Do yourself a favor and pick up any one of their albums to give them a nice test drive and you’ll be playing them at parties all summer long.