Portugal. The Man – Chris Black Changed My Life

Portugal. The Man are the kind of the act that will be the most rock, the most weird, artist at a mainstream festival (see: them at Lollapalooza ’23 – QRO preview). Their psych-lite is widely popular, with earworms like “Feel It Still”. But they also try new things, and don’t totally conform to being major label. That continues, as they show signs of greatness amid the lite on Chris Black Changed My Life.

Named after a friend of the band who recently passed away, there is a certain ‘taking in all of life and death’ scope and approach on Chris. It’s done best near the start, with the upbeat Portugal you’ve loved since well before “Feel It Still” on “Grim Generation”, followed by their rhythmic call-out of America (like what would happen if Jesus was a Mexican), including guest rhyme track from Black Thought and Natalia Lafourcade, on the following “Thunderdome [W.T.A.]”. Yet the rest of the album doesn’t reach those heights, save perhaps the better psych-charm of “Summer of Luv”, for enjoyable if not memorable pieces.

While they’re never going to be the greatest band in the world (who is?), Portugal. The Man do stand up for what they believe, from actually playing their instruments (something often pointed out by their humorous backdrop at festival sets – to those mainstream kids used to DJs) to their politics to their psych-lite brand of twenty-first century rock. They change enough without changing what lies underneath, and that’s still pretty good these days.