Portugal. The Man - Evil Friends

Portugal. The Man

Evil Friends

(Atlantic)

June 4th, 2013

Grade: D

 Far be it for me to criticize the work ethic of Portugal. The Man. Keeping themselves to a strict one album per year release schedule (with the exception of 2012), and managing to somehow make all those  quality records, is no small feat. But somewhere along the way, quality control took a swift downturn in the interest of making sure they could keep to that schedule. Not that it was readily noticeable at first. Portugal. The Man have been playing a clever game of creating a distinctive, different sound for each album while still carrying over their authentic quirkiness. And for awhile it seemed the whole, “bang out a record in a month, tour, write another record while on tour, release, and repeat” methodology was working just fine. Each album, captured a snapshot of the band’s creative influences at the time. Whether it was the psychedelic, fuzzy, synth pop of Waiter: You Vultures!, or their “obsessed with the Beatles” phase of Censored Colors. 

    But since signing to Atlantic, the stress of having to have constant material, whether they’ll readily admit it or not, seemed to have finally got to them. In The Mountain Cloud was praised for being “the most accessible Portugal.The Man album to date” and lauded for it’s “pop music sensibilities”. At first it seemed, Portugal. The Man were just doing what they do best; experimenting with yet another phase of there's, and this time it just happened to be easy-listening, radio friendly, pop music with only the barest notation of being  unique or original. “That Portugal. The Man!”, chortled their fans upon listening. “They sure are an eclectic bunch! Man it’s like there’s nothing they can’t do! Can’t wait to hear what they pull on the next record!” 

    I have no way of knowing if this is in fact authentically where Portugal. The Man want to go with their music or if it’s juts them kowtowing to Atlantic, but the fact remains; if In The Mountain Cloud hinted at a trend, the two years in the making Evil Friends all but confirms it. The band once known for the quirky song structures, creative use of electronic elements blended with guitars, tongue in cheek lyrics, and innovated song structures, have been outed as either guys that didn’t know any better who just got lucky, or guys who sold out.

    Evil Friends plays it safe, trading the band’s previous creativity for blah verse-chorus-verse-chorus, song structures. Every song hints at some of the band’s old brilliance every now and then; a frantic, stripped down acoustic intro (“Sea Of Air”) here, a cool bit of icy synthwave (“Modern Jesus”) there. But those hopes are quickly dashed once you realize that every song essentially builds up to the same tried, anthemic, chorus; choruses which are almost interchangeable. 

Portugal has already demonstrated that they’re capable of so much more than easy listening pop. On top of that, John Gourley’s voice simply isn’t cut out for the formula. By his own admission, he’s not the best singer and he certainly hasn’t improved here. His quasi-falsetto that blended in so well on their more chaotic sounding, jangly pop records, just sticks out sorely more than it ever has on Friends.

    The songs feel a bit too weak and claustrophobic with an all encompassing piano the NEVER stops for the rest of the album. Other songs trade the jangling piano for bland choruses and overwhelming production, that all but buries any authenticity. (“Waves”, “Holy Roller” , and “Someday Believe” being the most obvious offenders)

    The few great moments oddly enough, are when Portugal. The Man decided to screw the piano pop format for blistering, energy laden indie rock, played refreshingly straight. (The title track, “Hip Hop Kids” , and “Atomic Man”). And the drumming on the album is simply superb. While the production still feels a little too club scene meets Coldplay, the beats stay tight and when paired with timely bass grooves (on the rare times the bass isn’t simply maxed out), they add life to an otherwise dull affair.

    Evil Friends is quite simply a step backwards for Portugal. The Man. There simply isn’t much to recommend. After all their transformations and re-inventions over the years, Portugal, have successfully managed to become the one thing no one could have seen coming; predictable.