Portugal. The Man
Church Mouth
3.6/5

Who It’s For: Well, anyone who fancies a psychedelic White Stripes will be over the moon.
Sounds Like: A little too much like a psychedelic White Stripes for my liking.

I hate it when I nail those ‘sounds like’ things and leave nothing to be written in the main review.
Alright, alright, so it would be harsh to write Portugal The Man off so easily. Church Mouth is a sterling record, with some great angry drumming – “Sugar Cinnamon” has great fun sounding like a war – and the 60’s references are more interesting than a lot of the competition – like the verses on “My Mind” and the music box of “Oh Lord.” But the falsetto-vocal breaks and clanging guitars are too reminiscent of Jack White’s troupe, and feel a little like TV On The Radio, though more organic. The album also has a bit of a cluttered feel, which doesn’t much help.
That said fans are going to be pleased with Church Mouth. There’s not a truly bad song on here, and tracks like “Dawn,” with its bongos and hypnotic chorus, or, fuck, I cant even describe how good it is, “The Bottom”, show off a band worth seeing. This is certainly one to keep an eye on, and hopefully a future contender.

Track Listing:

1. Church Mouth
2. Sugar Cinnamon
3. Telling Tellers Tell Me
4. My Mind
5. Shade
6. Dawn
7. Oh Lord
8. Bellies Are Full
9. Children
10. The Bottom
11. Sleeping Sleepers Sleep
12. Sun Brother

- Kid Lupin  Posted Aug. 25/07