THE FIRST COLD NIGHT OF November in Portland, Oregon, found John Gourley and Zach Carothers of Portugal. The Man in a familiar position: in a maroon Ford E350 van, Carothers driving, Gourley in the back. Nine years ago, after the van they’d been touring in shot its transmission for the fifth time, they bought this one used and have logged 217,000 miles since, enough to crisscross the country more than 77 times.
During that time, PTM built themselves up from alt-rockers with a debt to Bowie and Pink Floyd and whatever else was handy to this year’s biggest crossover band, with a U.S. Top Five single, “Feel It Still”, that references everything from Motown to the Black Panthers and “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!)”. Their breakthrough album,…
