www.myspace.com/therealhermandune
I came across the French folk-pop band Herman Dune on an mp3 blog called Said the Gramophone several years back. The song of theirs that haunts me to this day is "Not on Top." Sung in English, it's a stark snapshot of a man in his late 20s who is at the crossroads, struggling with the notion of adulthood. His voice is cracked, frail and weary as hell, like he's just come off a decade-long bender. The opening verse cuts straight to the core: "I feel a little strange/ Feels like I'll never get my shit together/ Twenty-seven and I'm fucked/ Well, it's 10 years from teenage/ And that's a freaking lot/ I think I'm getting old." The last line is the shade of gallows humor that keeps the song afloat. A couple of crisp, hummable electric guitar solos between verses seal the deal.
This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2007.