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Portugal the Man has a fate worse than death: In fifteen years, it will be lost to 99-cent sidewalk sales and left as a remnant of consumer waste. The outfit’s debut full-length, Waiter: “You Vultures!”, its liner notes streamlined with ultra-hipster Photoshopped collages, will be shucked aside in a large pile marked “Retro Indie Rock” and forgotten. Just like psychedelic fonts from the ’70s and geometric album covers from the ’80s, Waiter will be a relic of its time. So why bother with a band that will inevitably meet its end on the dusty side of a bargain bin? Because Portugal the Man is everything you want to hear right now. With hooks covered in sugary sweet keys-and-guitar-driven rock and choruses as catchy as SARS, PTM is a lesser rocker’s Q And Not U. There are also a couple of hits to be plucked from Waiter, so perhaps the future is still unwritten. Maybe Portugal the Man will go out kicking and screaming before its last gasp.
