Portugal. The Man Wasilla’s homegrown band Portugal. The Man hit a milestone in their career as a full-force band by signing with Atlantic Records on April 2, 2010. This is a major achievement to sign with Atlantic Records some of the biggest names in music who signed with Atlantic including the following: Led Zepplin, Paramore, 2Pac and The Rolling Stones. Every Alaskan fan should be very excited. Since they have signed to Atlantic they released their 6th studio album, “American Ghetto”, with a seventh studio album to be released soon. The record is finished and is now being mixed. The album is still un-titled. It is said to be more progressive rock sound, and it is being compared to a Pink Floyd record, according to portugaltheman.net “Early on, I talked about the music with the head of the label for about an hour and as soon as we’d finished, he said, ‘Forget what I just said. You should do what you wanna do,'” Front man John Gourley, according to Alternative Press Magazine. This is a different sound from their previous releases like 2007’s “Church Mouth” and 2009’s “The Satanic Satanist,” which both carry a heavy Beatle influence. Those two records definitely have an indie, raw stripped-down sound. Another thing about “The Satanic Satanist” is that it has some Alaskan roots for their songs. One example is like “Guns and Dogs,” a song talking about spending time in the wilderness and in cabins. Front man John Gourley definitely uses this great state for inspiration since he grew up in Knik, where both his parents were dog musher’s. Dimond Alumni Katie Maeder is looking forward to Portugal. The Man’s new CD, but her favorite is “Church Mouth”. ” I’ve listened to every song on it a million times and it never gets old!” she said. Maeder also thinks it’s great that they signed to Atlantic Records. ” It will help their fan base grow significantly being on a popular label like Atlantic,” Maeder said. Her favorite memory of a Portugal concert is when they were playing “My Mind,” she said. ” When you can’t hear the band over the singing of the crowd it’s pretty crazy!”