First music from Alaska-born, Portland-based band since 2013!
It was 2013 and Portugal. the Man was preparing “Evil Friends.” I wasn’t amazingly familiar with the band, so when I was invited to dinner with John Gourley and company, I had no idea what to expect. I also didn’t know it would become one of my all-time favorite albums. Mr. Gourley is a perfectionist. I could tell the way he talked about an album we were about to hear months before release and music in general as the table munched on appetizers. He seemed very particular with his product and even more with the band’s live performance. I ran into him after a show at Showbox in Seattle. He had just come off the stage and was already picking apart the performance. Citing issues that anyone not in the band would have never noticed or needed to. The show was amazing. They opened and closed with “Purple, Yellow, Red, and Blue.” A feat I have never seen a band attempt and I have seen a lot of bands. Why wouldn’t they play a crowd pleaser twice in a set? “Creep in a T-Shirt” & “Modern Jesus” are flawless in my ears and I still listen to “Evil Friends” regularly. Needless, to say I was very excited to hear they have a new song and a new album on the way. I’ll be the first in line, online to buy a ticket when they announce their Salt Lake date, which I hope they do soon.
