by Nathan Perkel
It’s highly unlikely that South Florida will host another American band coming from as far away as Portugal. The Man. The indie rock group’s origins extend all the way to Wasilla, Alaska, where singer, guitarist and songwriter John Gourley wanted to make music a little less emo than that of his previous band, Anatomy of a Ghost. A move to Portland, Oregon followed, and Portugal. The Man still sounded very earnest with their music if not their punctuation on their 2006 debut album Waiter: “You Vultures!”
After a prolific run of seven records over seven years, it took a break — four years between albums — for the band to really break through. The 2017 album Woodstock features the song, “Feel It Still,” that you know even if you don’t recognize the title. It’s the dance-y number featuring Gourley’s falsetto squealing, “Ooh-woo, I’m a rebel just for kicks, now/ I been feeling it since 1966, now.”
“Feel It Still” was inescapable on rock radio, appeared in children’s movies like Peter Rabbit, was a staple at sporting arenas during timeouts, and was used to sell iPads and vitaminwater. It was even named best pop performance by a group at the 2018 Grammys.
When I caught them in 2016 at a late-night slot at the inaugural Okeechobee Festival, Portugal. The Man gave off art school vibes that you wouldn’t have imagined if you only knew them by “Feel It Still.” They inserted thrash guitar into a cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and messed around with with another classic — The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter.” The band they most reminded me of was early Radiohead, maybe just because Gourley’s voice goes to those high ranges Thom Yorke would sometimes visit.
Their newest album Shish has them revisiting free-form territory, going from 21st Century psych rock a la MGMT or Foxygen on opener “Denali” to Slayer-like metal on second song “Pittman Ralliers.” Perhaps the most experimental thing they’ve done was, on their three most recent concerts in Texas in late December, not playing their biggest hit.
Portugal.The Man play at 7:30pm Wednesday, February 11 at Miami Beach Bandshell in Miami Beach. portugaltheman.com ~ David Rolland
