Herman Jolly is a Northwest Prodigal Son. Having had his taste of the bigtime with his band Sunset Valley back in the late 90's, headling big shows and living the rock star life got tiresome for Jolly and he moved to Montana with his wife and child, as any authentic WIlle Nelson type would do. Settling down there e continued to make records and release them at his own pace, occasionally regrouping with Sunset Valley for a show or new recording here and there, Jolly knew that the music business would welcome him back when he was ready, and it has.

His new record Bunker Life may be best represented by the song Negative Blues. Known for his skill with wordplay, Jolly is relentlessy good at it and will always leave you with a gem or to think about long after you heard the song. Lyrics like "harbor a grudge, my walk is a trudge, my harbor is sludge" trick your mind, paint a little picture, and almost always give the listener something to relate to. Bunker Life is an interesting record in that Jolly can't keep the New Wave element out of his music - the early Elvis Costello, the Pixies - but as a "bedroom" record those influences are coming through in a sort of lo-fi way, a distorted microphone, a dirty guitar, but direct pop songs coming through just fine anways.