In June 2013 the band Portugal. The Man released its new album “Evil Friends.” The band did a fantastic job building up hype around the release of this album using social media. First, teasers were published on the Bonnaroo Tumblr page, hinting that Danger Mouse would produce the album. The name of the new album was first released on Instagram, followed by a Tweet-to-Reveal Mosaic to reveal the album art work. Then, the video to the title track “Evil Friends” was released on the band’s YouTube page.
As with most records produced by Danger Mouse (e.g., Broken Bells, The Gorillaz, Gnarls Barkley, etc.), it’s hard not to listen to this record front to back, immediately falling in love with its brilliance. Right from the beginning, the band lures you in with catchy melodies and clever lyrics that tie the album together. So you have a short teaser of the title song’s chorus in the track “Creep in a T-Shirt.” And likewise, you have a short reference to “Plastic Soldiers” in their final song “Smile.” What a great way to tell a story and to evolve an album into more than just a collection of songs.
The opening track “Plastic Soldiers” is a simple, melancholic song while the following song “Creep in a T-Shirt” has you dancing and singing along to its upbeat sound in seconds. The title song “Evil Friends” seemingly starts out as a slow track, but soon turns into a head-banging punk rhythm. Lead singer John Gourley states: “It’s not that I’m evil, I’ve got a friend in the devil.” It appears that he’s embraced his corrupted self for quite some time: “Before you were born, I was already sinning,” he says in this song.
While the song “Hip Hop Kids” disses today’s youth, including punks, rock ‘n rollers and hip hop kids, the song “Modern Jesus” dishes out harsh criticism on modern religion: “We may be liars, preaching to choirs, but we can sell you dreams. You don’t need sympathy, they got a pill for everything.” But Gourley swears off the pretend-salvation: “Don’t pray for us. We don’t need no modern Jesus. (…) Who cares if hell awaits, we’re having drinks at heaven’s gate.”
“Atomic Man” and “Purple, Yellow, Red and Blue” remind of old 60’s pop songs – a sound also embraced by MGMT. Overall, the band – and Danger Mouse – did a fantastic job creating an eclectic, yet beautiful album that takes you on a journey through various musical elements, influences and sounds. It’s a progression of sounds, yet smoothly balanced and interwoven in order to create a musical experience for the listener that extends beyond just some catchy tunes. In the end you can’t help put hit repeat.
