Forget about Volvos and Krisp Rolls, Herman Düne is probably what came best out of Sweden. This indie rock band has been passionately touring everywhere they could for ages and started releasing records on traditional record labels since 1999. The band is made of André Herman Düne (guitars and vocals ), David-Ivar Herman Düne (guitars and vocals) and Neman Herman Düne(drums and sometimes backing vocals).
Neman, who is not from Sweden but Switzerland, replaced former drummer Omé in early 2001 and... since summer 2002 Herman Düne. However, the line up is not a closed one. If you ask me, Herman Düne is all about sharing feelings and experiences wether it be on disc or live, but the sharing also takes place beetween the band and other recording
artists, bands and singers such as former Eric's trip Julie Doiron, Leah "Satan" Hayes, Laura "John Courage" Hoch french bluesman Red and many more...
Even if there are only 5 official studio albums released to this date it would be a tremendous task than to numerate all the cds that the Dünes have released since they started making music. a legend will even have André releasing three cdrs of music EVERY week ! So many side projects that it's hard not to forget some of them :
Kungen (david's electronica project) Klaus Bong, Ben Haschish, Ben Dope, John Trawlings, Fountain Boats (André's folk solo works) Satan's Fingers (David, Leah Hayes and Neman's musical pot pourri), Fast Ganz (André and Neman's rock and roll thing). I mean ,André even released a 27 track long album made of amplifier sounds, no, not that he thinks that he's Lou Reed doing music metal machine, but these guys are always up for creation.
It's quite easy to tell where the band's influences come from : Lou Barlow and his Sebadoh, The Mountain Goats, Pavement, Will Oldham, Smog, Cat Power, David Berman's Silver Jews,
Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Sonic Youth, and the New York scene led by bands such as The Moldy Peaches or Jeffrey Lewis, to sum it up, anyone that has sensitive guitars and a lo-fi savoir-faire.
What's great about the Herman Düne is that there's undeniably some very personal elements in their music over those influences. Some fragile (as in sometimes out of tune) but touching vocals, easily recognizable halfly tuned silvertone guitars (guitars also used by cat power among others) and a steady beat on the drums.
Seeing Herman Düne perform is.
always a fun and exciting experience since the shows are ALWAYS different. These guys have written more than 400 songs, it is therefore not too hard to have changing setlists. It is not rare to have the band launching into something they dont even know. Even the most hardcore fan will leave the venue with never heard before tunes still ringing in his ears
To top a bit of ice on the cake, the band has grown a devotion to covers, ranging from Eminem to Lou Barlow, from Jeffrey Lewis to Kylie Minogue, without forgetting the huge Johnatan Richman. To describe Herman Düne in a few words is quite easy : the best band (almost) I know.
