[Kompakt]

Listening to Thora Vukk, Robag Wruhme’s second album, is not unlike wrapping up in an heirloom blanket. Hardly extravagant, it’s the kind of LP whose hopeful tones and organic textures are best absorbed during a quiet night in, a dutiful pet (or significant other) curled up at your feet. But those who expected Wruhme’s last single of 2011, Donnerkuppel, to trundle down a similarly easy going path were in for a big (albeit pleasant) surprise. A perfect fit for its home on Kompakt, the record’s title track (which translates as “thunder dome”) is as poppy and anthemic as they come.

Those of us who were first introduced to electronic dance music through progressive house might feel a little pang of nostalgia as the main hook of “Donnerkuppel” rounds the bend. Its cheerful chords gleam as they traipse down a staircase of click-clacking percussion, bursting forth with untrammeled joy when a harmonic bass line joins the parade. It recalls the pre-minimal period when techno wasn’t so self-conscious or serious — a period largely dominated by Kompakt, it’s worth noting. A track this big and euphoric is definitely open to a one-word dismissal — cheesy — but it’s arguably more of a refined cheese platter than a big bowl of nacho cheese. “Wemmel” is the title track’s quirky, sample-scarred younger brother, bearing muted traces of that signature riff encased in overcast pads and electro-compatible drum programming. The record concludes with the downtempo musings of “Polch Dutto,” but it’s like an after-dinner mint listeners will likely skip to flip the record back to side A. Wruhme is no stranger to unabashedly melodic fare, and “Donnerkuppel” is easily among his catchiest tracks.