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Man, oh, Portugal. The Man. Is it the Alaskan air you were bred in? Is it the small town musicophilia? Is it your hippie roots? I don’t know what gives you that stand-out flair, but if you can’t tell, I’m more than smitten with your newest single, “So American.” If anyone anywhere ever tried to walk out on this song, good luck. It would catch you like a sweater pocket on a doorknob–not only would you lack any desire to detach yourself, you’d stay stuck there…for the entire 3 minutes and 36 seconds of dreamy wonder.

The now Portland-based band has a rare Beatles-like ability to create a masterpiece of unfamiliar melody (something uncommonly achieved), with a spacey David Bowie/Lou Reed thing goin’ on. This track is so perfectly complete with an island tropics rock out, an addition that has been magically complemented by uplifting violins. The verdict: In the Mountain, In the Cloud is easily one of the best LPs of 2011. I said it. Psychedelic rock, you rock.