Portugal the Man "Church Mouth" LP Old Friends (US)

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Track Listing:

A1Church MouthA2Sugar CinnamonA3Telling Tellers Tell MeA4My MindA5ShadeA6DawnA7Oh LordB1Bellies Are FullB2ChildrenB3The BottomB4Sleeping Sleepers SleepB5Sun Brother (Full Version)B6Seventeen

Portugal. The Man is an from and based in . The band is made up of former members of the band . The group was but is no longer signed to . They now have their own imprint label called Approaching AIRballoons through indie label . Notable for their already large output of recordings, their latest full-length album, released on July 21, 2009, is titled .

Musically, Portugal. The Man's style is varied. Their style is rooted in indie, but their songs also contain elements of soul, blues, and folk music. At times, the band chooses to utilize drum machines and/or synth loops to anchor their songs, while at other times, the band chooses to use the more conventional guitar, bass, and acoustic drum configuration characteristic of . The band also utilizes keyboards in much of its music. In addition to their instrumentals, Gourley's distinctly higher-pitched vocals add to Portugal. The Man's unique sound. Lyrically, Gourley provides the band with abstract and/or enigmatic lyrics that rely heavily on imagery. Gourley's verses are usually delivered in the singular or plural.

Band name

The band's name is based on the idea of 's "bigger than life" fame. They wanted the band to have a bigger than life feel but didn't want to name it after one of their members.

"A country is a group of people," guitar player and vocalist John Gourley explains. "With , it just ended up being the first country that came to mind. The band's name is 'Portugal'. The period is stating that, and 'The Man' states that it's just one person." The name has more personal meaning as well: Portugal. The Man was going to be the name of a book that Gourley had planned to write about his father and his many adventures.

The lyric booklet for the band's first album, Waiter: "You Vultures!", states: "Music performed and recorded by: The Approaching AIRballoons" and goes on to credit the band members as The Approaching AIRballoons. This started confusion as to who exactly The Approaching AIRballoons are, and why Portugal. The Man are not credited as the album perfomers. It was brought up on their forums, and was cleared up by Gourley, who stated "The Approaching AIRballoons are the backing band for Portugal. The original band name was 'Portugal. The Man and the Approaching AIRballoons'".

Career

The members of Portugal. The Man (with the exception of Jason Sechrist who was born in and Ryan Neighbors who grew up in Salem, Oregon) were all born and raised in . Gourley grew up in various parts of Alaska, even spending a year in the woods, living in a cabin his parents had built that was powered by a generator and had no phone. Around the 8th grade John's dad bought him a guitar. "I started playing mainly because of Zach, who was in this awful cover band and they played at our high school from time to time. It was like Rage Against the Machine covers, which I loved!"

Around August 2002, the band was formed. Anatomy of A Ghost quickly gained popularity, but before long, the group broke up. Portugal. The Man was originally started as John Gourley's side project, with Zach playing bass. Before they had a drummer, they used drum machines and synth-loops as the backing beat. Through the demise of Anatomy Of A Ghost, Gourley and Zach Carothers teamed up with Wesley Hubbard (of Mash Potato Mitch and the Jet Puff Marshmellow Men), Nick Klein (former guitar tech for Anatomy of Ghost) and Harvey Tumbleson - and formed Portugal. The Man. The band left Alaska and went to Portland with the intent of recording and touring. The band recorded demos in the summer of 2004 and followed this with a tour with Chiodos that fall. In spring 2005, Klein and Tumbleson left the band to pursue other opportunities and soon after Sechrist joined the band.

Portugal. The Man's debut record Waiter: "You Vultures!" was released by Fearless Records on January 24th, 2006. The album was produced by Casey Bates.

They have played with , , and have also opened up for labelmates on the Stampeding Machines tour, alongside similar acts such as and . In the summer of 2006 they were included on the headlining tour The Twilight Army Tour with , , , and . Portugal. The Man toured with , and on The Fall of Troy's Headlining Winter Tour. In early 2007, Portugal. The Man self-released a new E.P. entitled on their own label Approaching AIRballoons. The EP comprised one 23-minute original composition, which they nicknamed the "Michael Jordan" for being exactly 23-minutes long, and nine "magic" tracks which reiterate the album in summation, but with subtle differences.

On , they released their second full-length, , which was again produced by Casey Bates. Shortly before the album's release, the band leaked the recording themselves, putting it online for free download. The band then set out on a full U.S. headline tour with support from , , , and The Only Children among others. They then toured Europe, and followed it up with another US headlining tour with support from and during September and October. Following this tour, they joined Thursday on a short east coast tour in November alongside .

On , , Portugal. The Man posted a new blog on their MySpace page detailing what the next year would hold for them. They have left their label, , and plan on independently releasing a new studio album and are heading over to Europe again this February. On March 26th, 2008 it was announced in a MySpace bulletin that Ryan Neighbors, their touring keyboardist, is now an official member and the replacement for Wes Hubbard. In the summer of 2008 they were to be the main support band for national headlining tour.

Portugal. The Man has collaborated with the band on the re-release of its first album, Tiger and the Duke. Portugal. The Man remixed three of the songs on that album.

On , , it was announced that Portugal. The Man was releasing under its independent record label, Approaching AIRballoons (A play on the band's full name, "Approaching AIRballoons Present Portugal The Man"), in partnership with . It was released September 16, 2008.

The band recently wrapped up its most recent tour, The Gold Tour, with supporting acts and . They have since headed back into the studio to start work on their new album.

Portugal. The Man is listed as a confirmed musical act performing at the 2009 camping and music festival, Bonnaroo. John Gourley was the recipient of the 2008 AP Magazine's 'Best Vocalist of the Year'.

They played in , at 2009 on August 8th.

On April 9th Portugal. The Man announced which was released on July 21, 2009.

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