Portugal. The Man - Censored Colors

Portugal. The Man

Censored Colors

(o9.2008, Equal Vision)
Verdict: Don't write it off just because it's sold on SmartPunk

Lately a lot of bands have been labeled as "cross-genre." It is usually true. Bands no longer fit into the perfect little molds formed from the English language by which we try to classify and make sense of things. Music is morphing in every direction. There are more obscure start up record labels out there now than Mr. Thistle has cousins, and yet some certain labels and/or bands get promoted so heavily to a certain genre of people, that the other genres of people ignore the bands, even if they supposedly support "cross-genre" artists. Such is the way with the heavily promoted and widely loved Portugal. The Man. Their love is in the wrong place. People that listen to As I Lay Dying and Underoath love Portugal. The Man, and for some reason that makes people that listen to Black Mountain and Dodos not listen to Portugal. The Man even though they fit more with the latter bands than the former. All I am saying here is, give this album a chance cause it deserves that and much much more. Portugal has consistently blown me away, but this time they have morphed into a beautifully orchestrated composition-heavy rock band of complete enjoyment. Singer John Baldwin Gourley said it best when describing this albums' accomplishments by stating: "We've always wanted to make a really heavy record mellow." The aesthetics of this album are a gauzy ballad struck classically composed Led Zepplin in the year 2008. It's beautifully refreshing and instantly enjoyable.

-Sassigrass

"Colors" performed accoustically