The Singles Jukebox

In which we Feel Meh, Still…

[Video]
[4.75]

Micha Cavaseno: Y’all fucked up and let Portugal. The Man into the commercial sphere. Their sense of ambition and artiness is very welcome in the age of the inflated sonic sensibilities of pop-rock anthems in the post-Imagine Dragons era, but as much as Portugal have learned to do the most thoughtless of choruses meant for radio, the smeared edges of the bridge and that dizzying organ outro drone hint at their past. Still fascinating to think that a group as uncommercial as this is having such a big hurrah of money, and that eventually someone’s going to check out that early material.
[7]

Alex Clifton: “Live in the Moment” is a rich title from a band who titled their most recent album Woodstock, who seem to believe that computers can’t make “real” music, and whose lead singer’s style is a dead ringer for Kip’s from Napoleon Dynamite — a film that came out fourteen years ago. It sounds decent on first listen, but I feel like they haven’t read the room; most people I know are listening to pop music these days to escape the hellish reality we seem to have stumbled into. A couple lines stumble here, trying to engage with the political climate — the lynching line is weird — but I wish they’d go one way or the other. Instead, this gets lukewarm with the message washed out. I’d take computer-written EDM created with some forethought over this any day.
[3]

Katie Gill: I haven’t forgotten “no computers up here, just live instruments.” It’s sad when a band’s obnoxious posturing is more interesting than their middle of the road, kind boring output. Can’t I live in a different moment instead?
[4]

Stephen Eisermann: Like a night full of hallucinogenics, alcohol and a live band at a bar on Haight Street in San Francisco, this track is a mess of sounds and emotions that blend together wonderfully. This is the feeling of being high in song form.
[7]

Alfred Soto: I’m up for more counting stars even if these dudes do it on a Sunday morning, and it’s a helluva hook they got there, pompous and loud and everything.
[5]

Will Adams: The punchier sound — provided via sharp shuffle drums and a quivering organ hum — makes for more engaging listening than the oil slick that was “Feel It Still,” but the la la’s in the chorus are an odd choice that betray their crossover aspirations.
[5]

Eleanor Graham: Good: “Black Skinhead” drums and something intangible in the chorus melody that leaves the words “moment” and “morning” wide open like a highway at sunrise. Weird: the fact that this Portland indie-rock band have released what could quite feasibly pass as an upper-tier Olly Murs song. Like probably his second best, after “You Don’t Know Love”. 
[4]

Jonathan Bradley: The “Rock and Roll Part 2” drums approximate a hook, I guess, but the dull-eyed croon that complements it barely approximates a tune. We should demand more from indie rock than showing up. 
[3]