Everyone loves a good album origin story and while Woodstock isn’t the craziest you’ll hear all week it does have an interesting backstory. After years lost in the wilderness chasing a scrapped concept record entitled Gloomin + Doomin the band hit reset on the project when lead singer John Gourley found a faded 1969 Woodstock ticket stub at his dad’s house. That relic from another era guided them toward creating something a little less cerebral and a lot more immediate. It is how Woodstock eventually took its shape, focusing the writing process around songs born out of frustration and sharpened by a world seemingly spinning off its axis.
What emerged is a strange alchemy of heady psych-rock and glossy pop that Portugal. The Man has been known for throughout their 15-year run. It’s the familiar textures of the disco era with a modern sheen. You hear that tug-of-war happening in real-time on every track, whether that be Danger Mouse’s slick fingerprints brushing up against crunchy guitars, choruses that explode from smooth laidback grooves, and a real focus on the hook that harkens back to the pop brilliance of the Bee Gees. It’s an album that feels like the soundtrack to a protest held by hipsters in a Brooklyn neighborhood. The international success of “Feel It Still” is still resonating nearly a decade after its release.
Standout Songs: “Feel It Still”, “Live in the Moment”, “Rich Friends”, “So Young”
