John Gourley of Portland-based Portugal. The Man has been quietly dropping heat since the mid-2000s, well before the formation of P.TM and the band’s move from Wasilla, Alaska, down to Rip City. It’s been all community building of some sort or another: community building with other musicians and creatives, community building between cultures and traditions, and community building with the land and its stewards. 

Before there was Portugal. The Man, there was Anatomy Of A Ghost. Fronted by Gourley, Anatomy Of A Ghost included Zachary Carothers, a long-time member of P.TM. Though sonically not deeply akin to the music Gourley has been making since, the sound of Anatomy Of A Ghost was in lock-step with the DIY music coming out at the time—their only album, Evanescence, releasing in 2004. Easy comparisons between Gourley’s vocals in this project and those of Anthony Green (The Sound of Animals Fighting, Circa Survive, etc.) can be made, as well as the band’s musicality to the Mid-West emo of Braid and American Football. 

Hard pressed as one might be to hear similarities between Anatomy Of A Ghost and 2025 Portugal. The Man, it makes perfect sense that post-hardcore and emo is where Gourley came from, as is the evolution of the band’s sound from their first release, 2006’s Waiter: “You Vultures!”, to their new album Shish. Gourley’s music has always been tapped in, always of the moment—an artistic practice and philosophy that continues to keep Portugal. The Man at the vanguard of whatever it is Gourley is working on at the time. 

From a young age, Gourley understood the power, and the gravity of community. When the Mercury caught up with Gourley, he immediately started contextualizing his youth, explaining “My parents were dog sled mushers, so it put us out in villages and in places off the road system.” Without even a shred of dog sledding knowledge, it’s not hard to imagine the literal life-or-death importance of community when out mushing and living in rural Alaska during the ’90s.

“Technically we were an off-grid family. We had a generator, we didn’t have power, we didn’t have neighbors—we were never a city family. When you live like that, community is very important.”

Community has continued to permeate everything Gourley does since relocating to Portland, including the roster of players in Portugal. The Man. Almost more a collective with a leader as opposed to a solidified band, P.TM’s personnel has changed with every release, connecting dots between scenes and broadening the band’s aural scope. Help frontman Ryan Neighbors used to play keys in Portugal. The Man, with Kyle O’Quin taking over on the ivories when his bands Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground and Wild Orchid Children disbanded in 2012. 

“Hardcore, that was the scene I connected with immediately in coming to Portland,” Gourley waxes when asked how he ended up in Portland and where his penchant for community is taking the band. “I may not play in a hardcore band, but it’s the ethos and the ideology. I stand behind all aspects of hardcore,” he confirms, opening the age-old (or at least a 50-year-old) can of worms question: What is punk? 

It’s how you move through the world, not how you look or sound. And though Gourley’s right in saying he’s not in a hardcore band, his actions—in and out of the studio—are deeply hardcore, unflinchingly DIY, and, if you really want sonic evidence of hardcore roots, check out early P.TM tracks “Horse Warming Party” and “Bellies Are Full,” or find footage of the band’s Woods Stage set at Pickathon this year. “This band would not exist without hardcore, I know it wouldn’t,” Gourley says. “That is my crew. We are ride or die. We are DIY. We try to be as sustainable as we can be.”

Sustainability doesn’t seem to be an issue for Portugal. The Man. It wasn’t until 2017—almost 20 years into Gourley’s music career—that the band was launched into a stratosphere of music celebrity not often attained by Portland artists. “Feel It Still,” the Goliath single from their Woodstock album, spent 57 weeks on Billboard’s Top 100, utilizing the infectious melody of The Marvelettes’ all-timer, “Please, Mr. Postman,” a single itself spending 27 weeks on the Billboard charts, peaking at #1. 

After dropping their surprise uLu Selects Vol #2 EP earlier this year, on their new album Shish, Portugal. The Man continues their exploration of the psych-pop spaceways they’ve been floating through since 2008’s The Satanic Satanist. Deeply rooted in the Indigenous imagery and community structures of Alaskan natives, Shish marks yet another evolution in the band’s sound and roster. For the first time since the band’s inception, Zachary Carothers isn’t listed as an album contributor, consolidating the band’s long-established core group down to Gourley and his wife, Zoe Manville. 

Though Shish does feel like continued sonic exploration of a path the band has been on for a few years now, it is also clearly a return to the more experimental early days of Portugal. The Man. Uninhibited wall-of-sound breakdowns expose a closer kinship to Waiter: “You Vultures!” and Church Mouth, rather than Woodstock and Evil Friends.

If you’re still in doubt about Portugal. The Man’s hardcore sensibilities, tuck into Shish non-singles “Pittman Ralliers” and “Father Gun.” Track two on the album, “Pittman Ralliers” is a massive departure from anything we’ve heard from either Portugal. The Man or Gourley. Full of both rage and compassion for where we find ourselves as a species, “Pittman Ralliers” insights visions of exploding volcanoes, the collapse of capitalism, and humans as fuel, with P.TM collaborator David Marion growling, “We have become the kindling.” This is, without question, the most exciting track to explode from Portugal. The Man in years, ending with a mechanical John Carpenter outro, bleeding into the Latin-inflected single “Angoon.” 

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Shish releases November 7 via the band's label Knik Records. The album can be found on Portugal. The Man's Bandcamp as vinyl, compact disc, and digital download.