Spread the Social Love:

Dolfish - Your Love Is Bummin' Me Out [EP]

Indiecater Records

by adamglasspool, March 15th, 2011 and has been Read 3228 times.
Last Edited by: Jack Stovin March 16th, 2011.

I’m not entirely sure that punk and country music are blended together all that often. Certainly not notably or terribly successfully, at least. There will be those amongst the readers that can understand why, but for me Dolfish’s fusion of the punk ethos with the twang of country guitar and vocals is an interesting and entirely successful one. Known as Max Sollisch in the terrifyingly bright light of ‘real life’, his lo-fi approach to recording and dark humour lend this murkily distorted collection of country folk songs a very real human aspect.

It’s difficult to pick out exactly what makes this EP special. It’s five songs long, but only takes up eight minutes of your time, simultaneously not outstaying its welcome and making you want to hear more, so it’s not exactly packed with outstanding moments. The craft of the songwriting is evident, but more often than not the songs retain their slender length because you can see that that is where the song runs out, structure seeming immaterial and unimportant. At times the fuzziness of distorted guitar detracts from the twang of country, and the crisp acoustic guitar makes the listener yearn for more of a rocking affair. The result is... confusing. It isn’t helped by its brevity, but does encourage repeat listens, and it is during one of those many repeat listens that the record opens up to you.



It’s a genuinely electrifying listen and whilst the punk aspect may not be the clearest influence on Dolfish (perhaps evident only in the method of recording and the simplicity of the songs) the lo-fi approach to this collection of songs is exactly what they need. No more, no less. The songwriting at times feels a little lacking, but this is made up for in spirit as Sollisch clearly loves the music he makes and throws all of himself into it. A genuinely refreshing release from an artist bound to become adored by many whilst deliberately maintaining his indie edge. Hopefully.