Portugal. The Man Backstage At Lollapalooza

Photos: 50 Reasons Why…From the ashes of Anatomy of a Ghost rose Portugal. The Man. The band, originally formed in Alaska, got together when post-harcore Anatomy’s vocalist (John Gourley) and bassist (Zachary Carothers) opted to continue working together, joined by keyboardist Wes Hubbard and (after relocating to Portland, Oregon) drummer Jason Sechrist. (Hubbard has since been replaced by Salem, Oregon native, Ryan Neighbors.) The subsequent EPs and albums by this band, released over a span of six years (since 2005) have ranged in styles from the agression-laden Chruch Mouth to the mellower electro American Ghetto. The only thread that seemingly runs through these albums are their consistant ridiculously interesting musicality and an undercurrent of psychedellia.

The latest from Portugal. The Man is an album released July 19th of this year, entitled In The Mountain in the Cloud, the first album the band has released under their new label, Atlantic Reocrds. The band started releasing teasers for this album in April of 2011 in the form of 30 second clips of the songs to be on the album via youtube, creating a good deal of hype that the ablum more than lived up to upon its release. In addition to playing music fests such as Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo this summer, the band also released a short film entitled “Sleep Forever,” via IFC and has recently announced that they are already working on another album with Atlantic.