Max Sollisch is a throwback. He is not your typical musician. His music calls back to a day when post-punk low-fi was considered “indie,” before that genre of music was dominated by expansive outlets of multi-instrumentalists singing melodic tunes about nature. Not to say there is anything bad about that. Dolfish, though, is a call-back to when there was an edge to “indie” music. So, in that way, Sollisch reminds me much of John Darnielle, an artist who I admire. Sollisch, like Darnielle, has never given up on his mid-90s low-fi roots. Though, in the mid-90s, Sollisch, like myself, was only around six years old.
Sollisch is a 23-year-old Cleveland-born musician whose debut EP, Your Love is Bummin’ Me Out, was released last December by Minneapolis-based Afternoon Records. The record received praise for encompassing the style I mentioned above. Sollisch’s use of crafty lyric and short song lengths helped establish him as an artist on the rise. And, of course, his voice did not hurt this reputation.
Today, I want to introduce you to Dolfish’s first LP, I’d Rather Disappear Than Stay the Same, which features a backing band of Iowa musicians Sollisch met upon arriving in Des Moines to record. The 12-track record will be released on Oct. 30 of this year.
“I’d Rather Disappear than Stay the Same,” is an excellent example of what I have been writing. Sollisch’s voice, which features a higher-pitched nasal inflection much like Darnielle himself, is both tender and edgy. The raw emotion that he captures with his voice elevates the lyric to new heights. Not to mention, lyrics like “send a hungry rabbit to polish off my remains” certainly do qualify as witty. The song crashes into an infectious combination of acoustic and electric that supports Sollisch’s powerful vocal.
Here is another little teaser from the album. “In My Dreams You Are The One Who Burns the Coffee,” is another short song that, despite its length, has power. As a purely acoustic song, the listener can better hear Sollisch’s voice as he effortlessly guides us through his thoughts.
You can check out more about Sollisch and Dolfish on his Facebook.
The Music Court 
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