Herman Dune - Strange Moosic (Vinyl LP, CD)

Herman Dune are a band I was quite fond of about a decade ago, so it's comforting to see these guys are still bringing out records. They're one of those bands whose albums just sound instantly familiar, totally warm and casual. Apparently Andre left the band a couple of albums ago which kind of surprised me since I always thought that the whole Herman Dune thing was based around the chemistry between the two songwriting brothers, their guitar playing always had a really classy and natural feel when they were playing together. There's a fancy CD version of this album that comes packed in a hardback book which looks dead lovely and must surely be limited. Each song is accompanied by one of David-Ivar's dead charming drawings of a yeti or Chewbacca or something. The lyrics are really personal and conversational. I remember reading somewhere that they had hundreds of unrecorded songs written, so I guess that's how they've perfected this style of throwaway-but-profound songwriting. It's still a winning formula, anyway, and despite Andre's absence this record sticks to it religiously, so if you've enjoyed the previous Herman Dune releases you don't have a lot to worry about here. Charming and simple music that's sophisticated enough for repeated listens and casual enough not to come across as forced or cheesy.