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Portland -- by way of Alaska -- indie rockers/genre-mashers Portugal. The Man release their fury of an album The Satanic Satanist today, and the effort is one of polish and whimsy. The band's sound jumps from indie rock to folk to blues with a little taste of soul. However odd it may sound, it's a winning combination that turns The Satanic Satanist from another boring, run-of-the-mill indie rock album into an explosion of creativity, experimental sounds and inspired lyrics. The album starts off with an absolute bang in the form of the song "People Say," foretelling the future of those listeners brave enough to sit down and have themselves a taste of Portugal. The Man's strange, funky fruit.
The aforementioned lead track "People Say" begins with some organs, twangy guitars and a 10 second first verse -- all coagulating into a funky, spot-on, rollicking good time. The genius of the song comes in the mixing of the album -- it segues perfectly into "Work All Day," another fresh, folk/soul offering that has come to be Portugal. The Man's calling card. John Gourley's unmistakable vocals and singing style pepper the song with some of that undeniable Alaskan blue-eyed soul, along the likes of...pretty much just himself.
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