Woodstock
On a trip home to Alaska in 2016, frontman John Gourley stumbled upon his dad’s $8 Woodstock festival ticket stub. The discovery sparked an infatuation with ‘60s pop culture and its politically charged music. The band’s eighth album, a thrilling, gritty package of experimental pop-rock, is their take on music with a message. Loaded with deluxe production (thanks in part to Danger Mouse and Mike D), danceable energy (“Live in the Moment”), and poignant lyrics (“Noise Pollution”), it’s both a lively soundtrack to the resistance and a reminder to have fun.
The Alaska psych-pop group have embraced modern-rock glitz and EDM bombast, while trying to write an album that speaks to the times. But their attempts at topicality are clumsy.
The record manages to fall in line with Portugal. The Man’s willingness to move forward in endearing ways.
None of this will come across as blatantly as it does on Woodstock, the band's eighth studio album and first in four years.
Portugal. The Man aims squarely at the 21st-century mainstream with their eighth album, Woodstock.