GOD BLESS OR GET NEGLECTED

American Ghetto

by Portugal. The Man

March 2, 2010

Equal Vision Records

Amazon: American Ghetto

This sure came as a surprise to me. Just as I was about to sink my teeth (or my ears?) into a nice, juicy pre-Satanist P.TM feast, I learned that the band was a week away from releasing yet another album only six months or so after last year's phenominal offering. I was a little disappointed that the only copy I'd be able to obtain was a digital one (making it the first full album I've purchased on iTunes), but I was so excited for it that I slapped down the $9 right away and sucked it up. Since then, Amazon and most likely plenty of other sites have gotten a hold of it, so you can check it out at the link above.

After just one listen, I came to the conclusion that this was a typical album-released-less-that-a-year-after-the-band's-last-album piece, sounding remarkably similar to the last one, only a lot less impressive. But after a second spin, I noticed a significant change in the styles of American Ghetto and that of The Satanic Satanist, and that was the decade from which the sound originated. On Satanist, the band defintely has a strong hippie mentality behind their music as well as their lyrics. But on Ghetto, this has sort of evolved into an '80s sort of affair with it's incessant use of drum machines, most noteably on the joyous closer, "When the War Ends." The change wasn't necessarily bad, but I will be a bit upset if their next albums sounds anything like Pavement.

Once you get to know most of the songs, though, I think you'll learn to love this album. I think the drum machine is a perfect fit for it, as it definitely adds a sense of progress from previous releases by the band. I'm glad that amidst the huge popularity of the '80s revival scene, some bands have been a bit more subtle about borrowing from the shortly deceased decade, compared to groups like Yeasayer (who I'm constantly bashing. Sorry, fellas). In fact, had there been any use of an electronic organ, I would have suspected that this was another project that had been hijacked by Danger Mouse and turned completely around.

Although the album was as consistently strong as Satanist, I did notice that it lacked a standout track like "People Say." Even though most of the songs came pretty close, it was a little disappointing to not have a song like that that's irresistably catchy and clearly superior to the rest. Also, the lyrics haven't improved much since they began four or five years ago, but I was glad to hear that they weren't singing about lovers loving love this time around. This has always been a weak point for the band, but it's never bothered me enough to keep me away from their music.

Even though I've only had the time to listen to two fifths of the Alaskan experimentalists' library, I haven't heard a bad song by them yet. American Ghetto may have been a small step down, but they show no sign of slowing down. Hopefully they'll be able to crank out a new record every year for the next decade, and hopefully they'll leave enough time between each release for me to catch up with their old stuff. In a year that has been full of disappointing releases from great bands, this has truly been a light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Track Listing:

1. "The Dead Dog" (* * * *) 

2. "Break" (--)

3. "60 Years" (* * * *) 

4. "All My People" (* * * *)
5. "1000 Years" (* * * *)
6. "Fantastic Pace" (* * *)
7. "The Pushers Party" (* * *)

8. "Do What We Do" (* * * *)

9. "Just a Fool" (* * *)
10. "Some Men" (* * * *)
11. "When the War Ends" (* * * *)

Grade: A