In the Mountain in the Cloud
Portugal. The Man
Promise you won’t take the next sentence too seriously. Portugal. The Man are the new Oasis.
That’s a simplification of course, but pay attention to some of the guitar lines on the album. Or just listen to the chorus on “You Carried Us (Share With Us).” Or the one on “Sleep Forever.” PTM have the ability to swiftly sweep you off your feet just like Oasis could. They even take up the John Lennon lyricisms like Oasis did. “No one said there’d be times like these,” they sing on “All Your Light.” That’s not exactly leagues away from, “nobody told me there’d be days like these.”
So you can add that to the slew of “sounds like” comments already made about PTM, most of which rightfully cite glam rock artists like Bowie or T. Rex. The preponderance of comparisons illustrate how much PTM are treading old ground. Or they’re simply derivative, if you want to be mean about it. You can easily poke holes through this collection of crowd-pleasing, arm-waving rock songs in all sorts of little ways: too dispassionate in its politics to be Lennon, not sleazy enough to be T. Rex. This is all true. But it’s worth a shot, I suppose, trying to enjoy the album free of the shadow of its influences. Wait until 5 o’clock on a sunny Friday afternoon, for example, and let the music do what it does best: encapsulate the energy of a good day so you can amplify it even more.
PTM never miss an opportunity to swing for the big chorus and that’s actually what keeps the album back. They hit a good number of home runs, but there’s inevitably a few pop-ups, too. You know those at-bats where everyone in the crowd gasps in anticipation only to watch the ball drop snugly into the outfielder’s glove several yards before reaching the back fence? That’s kind of what “Senseless” and “Share with me the Sun” feel like. PTM may be the new Oasis, and In the Mountain in the Cloud may have its share of wonderwalls but What’s the Story (Morning Glory) the album is not.
Listen: “In the Mountain in the Cloud”
Portugal. The Man – In The Mountain In The Cloud by ATL REC
