On last year's Water on Mars, Purling Hiss cleared most of the murk that helped define some of Mike Polizze's earlier solo recordings. Instead of sounding like a guitar savant trapped inside an AM radio, Polizze and his band were dishing out tracks that could have conceivably found placement on rock'n'roll radio, with partial credit going to production from the War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel and engineer Jeff Ziegler. The record was proof that Polizze didn't have to hide behind the veil of his home-recorded low fidelity, and more importantly it depicted what the band's live incarnation was capable of.
Still, the album's improved fidelity didn't lessen the power of his early recordings, since Purling Hiss' early records still stand as the project's most powerful work so far. Drag City's unearthing some of that early work by reissuing Dizzy Polizzy, a collection of material that originally came out as a limited-run, tour-only cassette back in 2011. Polizze largely recorded these songs by himself between 2004 and 2009, and the record debunks the myth that he's merely a guitar shredder, highlighting what he's capable of as a songwriter.
Though "Millions of Colors" dips into proggy psychedelics, most of the tracks on Dizzy are folk songs. "She Don't Mind" is an acoustic campfire jam for slackers, as Polizze sings "Sittin' around in the same old town" while following a rambling groove and bending a few bluesy guitar flourishes. "The Earth Creature" clears some of the fuzz off Public Service Announcement's "Beautiful Earth Creature", revealing the song's gorgeous harmonies and mandolin lines. By pitch-shifting his vocals down, muting his acoustic strums, and falling into a stomping trudge when the chorus hits, "On the Last Day" slathers some darkness on a beautifully melancholic song about heartache.
The muddy fidelity of these recordings isn't distracting, as Polizze often manages to buoy some of his best guitar solos above the din. Sometimes, whether intentionally or not, the production becomes a crutch. Since "Digh High" takes a couple of minutes to kick into gear, the washy production and warped hiccups are all there is to keep listeners interested. More often, though, the fuzzy atmosphere is the perfect companion for these songs. The acoustic ballad "Sifting Through My Hands" seems to emanate from a tin can on the opposite end of the room, accentuating Polizze's hoarse, pained vocals, and when the guitar solo hits, it's muffled but nonetheless feels stark and dramatic.
In addition to Dizzy Polizzy, Permanent recently repressed Polizze's self-titled debut as Purling Hiss from 2009. Compared to Dizzy Polizzy, Purling Hiss is a monster of blown-out, shredding, heavy psych music that consistently locks into a satisfying groove. (Fans of Earthless, take note.) Everything is smothered by blaring electric guitars, and it's just as well. A few of these tracks go well beyond the nine-minute mark, which allows Polizze to go long with some of his best solos to date. The LP ends with "Sound of Montage", a trepidatious 90-second nugget with tribal drums and a humming monotone that suggests a quiet end to Purling Hiss—that is, until Polizze rips through the same brazen melody he established on album cut "Montage Mountain".
Purling Hiss paints Polizze as a Philadelphia guitar hero who uses his prowess to craft heavy psych odysseys through murky territory, while Dizzy Polizzy casts him as a folkie outsider with some devastating songs in tow. He's cleaned up nice since, but these early recordings prove that even when he was working with lower fidelity, Polizze was writing some of the most exciting and affecting songs of his life.
