Portugal. The Man – Church Mouth – Vinyl, LP, Fearless Records, Reissue, 2017

Church Mouth is the second full-length album from experimental rock band Portugal. The Man. It was released in July, 2007. While the album maintained it’s artistic mix of aurora borealis-avant-indie pop and post-punk, Church Mouth paved a new musical path for the band. A departure from 2006’s drum-machine and sequencer-heavy Waiter: You Vultures!, Church Mouth leans on Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, and Santana for inspiration. Front man John Gourley was also listening to a lot of Blind Willie Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Robert Johnson when he wrote the record. While most of us who grew up in the continental US were raised on Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereal, Gourley’s Alaskan upbringing was unorthodox; his youth spent exploring nature in one of the few virtually untouched territories left in the world. As a result, his striking enigmatic vision makes it’s mark on the band’s packaging, merch design, videos, photos, posters, and the music.