Long Lost Solace Find

Over the course of about a decade, Philadelphia musician Mike Polizze took his project Purling Hiss from scuzzy lo-fi solo recordings to full-band grunge punk shredding. In every phase of its evolution, Purling Hiss was marked by loud guitars and abrasive tones, burying Polizzes mumbly vocals and wandering melodic sensibilities under layers of thick distortion. Polizzes turn towards gentler, mostly acoustic material on his solo debut, Long Lost Solace Find, isnt an entirely shocking move; plenty of songwriters are multidimensional enough to pull off loud rock just as well as they do nuanced folk. What makes this set of moody and introspective songs stand out is how deftly constructed they are, and how Polizze uses the shift in style to reveal his songwriting gifts that have been with him all along. The album is played and sung entirely by Polizze with help only from longtime friend Kurt Vile, who offers some backing vocals, various instrumental touches, and understated trumpet on album standout Revelation. Viles more subdued records provide one of the reference points for Long Lost Solace Find, with hazy, drifting tunes like Cheewawa sounding similar to Viles angsty daydreams on 2011s Smoke Ring for My Halo. Polizzes stumbling melodies and detached observations recall some of the best moments of the slacker-pop cannon, with the double-tracked vocals of album opener Bainmarie and the Stones-informed depravity of Sit Down sounding culled from a lost Beck album between Mellow Gold and One Foot in the Grave. Polizze also showcases fingerstyle guitar talents that never got a chance to shine with Purling Hiss, with songs like Wishing Well and instrumental tune DModal based around simple folk-blues guitar figures. Long Lost Solace Find is melancholic but never heavy, with Polizze shrugging at the apocalypse and the human condition as he shuffles through songs that are relaxed and bright. Brilliantly constructed arrangements keep understated hooks and subtle instrumental turns just below the surface, making for new surprises with repeat listening. After years of blunt bashing with Purling Hiss, the quiet beauty of Long Lost Solace Find offers a different side of Polizzes songwriting as much as it elevates him to a new class of songwriter. Along with contemporaries like Vile and Steve Gunn, Long Lost Solace Find has traces of Dinosaur Jr.s most hushed moments, Anne Briggs heartbreaking clarity, and the resigned grandeur of legendary artists like Karen Dalton or Nick Drake. Its a stunning turn of heel, and one that instills a sense of anticipatory excitement for where Polizze will take his music next. ~ Fred Thomas