Photography Emily Dyan Ibarra
Often bands have hard drives full of unreleased music that may or may not ever reach fans. And after a decade since its creation, Portugal. The Man reaches into the hard drive and pulls out Oregon City Sessions-a live recording of an album almost left behind.
The project is honest and true to its creation; having remained untouched since 2008. It’s a real look into one of the worlds most successful bands as they were finding their way.
Just a group of kids from Alaska handling business the way kids from Alaska do.
“The first few years of PTM were whirlwind. We didn’t have a place to live so we were pretty much either recording or touring. We were so wide-eyed coming out of Alaska that every day was an exciting new adventure. I think you can see it in our playing.” – John Gourley
It’s hard to say PTM got lucky. The heights and acclaim that we know them to have today wasn’t an act of God- although something did put the band together-
In what must’ve felt like a balancing act in a tornado, since their founding in 2006, the band performed 500 shows in their first 730 days, as well as recorded three full-length projects, one EP, along with a few singles sprinkled on top. Oregon City Sessions is the missing piece from this era.
According to bassist, and background vocalist, Zach Carothers, the project has the nostalgia of a willfully blind passion. “It’s like a poem you wrote in high school… it’s simple, selfish in the most beautiful way. We were doing whatever we wanted.”
And that’s just what it feels like. At 14 tracks, timing out to a total 131 minutes long, the average runtime of a song is 5 minutes- fairly long by today’s standards. In comparison to their 2008 Censored Colors release, with 15 tracks, timing out to 53 minutes. Or their 2013 release, Evil Friends, with 12 tracks, timing 49 minutes.
Oregon City Session is closing the blinds, sparking an incense, lighting the string bulbs above the couch, and then, without knocking, the “Feel it Still” band walks in your living room and throws down. A group of perfectly coifed mustaches begin playing for your own amusement. They know you know the hits. They know you know who they are. This isn’t your average band of mustaches. This is the “Evil Friends” mustaches, “Can’t keep my hands to myself” mustaches.
The songs are a mix of rhythm guitar, heavy power chords, driving drums, tied together with plenty of bridges, breaks, and crescendos (a live album). Some songs sound like a high speed chase on horseback, others sound more familiar to 2017s Woodstock. Some songs sound like the soundtrack to a Tim Burton circus scene, some are more temperate. There’s rock anthems and rock ballads. There’s mustaches and baby faces. There’s something for everybody.
Some songs, like “Colors”, “The Home”, “AKA M80 the Wolf”, and a few more, made their way onto tracklists for other albums. Mostly in the immediate years following Oregon City Sessions. However, as with any live album, whether it’s J. Cole, the Doors, or the Arctic Monkeys, the reason people listen is for the transparency and authenticity. The listener is directly in touch with the creative energy of the band. Their hands on the same pulse as the bands.
Oregon City Sessions is putting your ear to a wall. Untampered, unconscious. Music in the pursuit of music. Nothing in between fan and band. So when they leave you to your incense and string bulbs their mustaches stay behind to keep you company.
For PTM, this project is a memory of what made them who they are. It’s an inaugural brick in the wall. A very important brick. A retelling of old songs. The Blu-Ray Ultraviolet HD edition of Die Hard. However, this is Portugal. The Man. Alive. There’s always something else to be said. Jesus did more than was written of him.
Equally, a song can always be more. This is all the “more” packaged and stamped. Write more. Do more. More of that. More drums. Never less guitar. Only quietly play the guitar. Legend has it, even in the most voided absence of silence you can hear a cymbal crash or a snare rim tap in the Oregon City studio.
Oregon City Sessions is how PTM whistles along to their own music- of course it’s a strange idea since they recorded these songs 13 years ago while we’re just now getting them- but nonetheless it’s a band you know jamming. It’s live music.
2020 and 2021 have been full of surprises across the board. Why not dive into the archives with the band? Chances are pretty solid you’ll rock out with a few of the tracks. And if you’re new to PTM, you’ll be happy to know the same groove that makes their newer music is the same groove that made their older music.
Don’t neglect to appreciate the brushstrokes that lead to the painting. Especially with a band like Portugal. The Man.
