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Check out The Opposite of Optimist on iTunes
Buy Duane Dolieslager's debut album "The Opposite of Optimist"
Imagine that Ben Folds, Michael Penn, Matthew Sweet, Aimee Mann, Rhett Miller, and the Shins are involved in a horrible bus accident. They'd all be dead. Then you would probably find yourself listening to the music of Duane Dolieslager.
Dolieslager describes his debut album "The Opposite of Optimist" as "twelve tracks of melodic, indie pop for you to savor as you stumble through life." When questioned as to why the album wasn't simply titled "Pessimist," the singer/songwriter explains that being the opposite of optimist is the optimistic way of looking at being a pessimist. So goes the album.
Often teetering on the brink of despair, Dolieslager manages to capture constant glimpses of shimmering, silver linings throughout the record. One such silver lining is found in the song "Shuttle," the tale of an overly eager romantic who spontaneously embarks on an excursion to outer space in order to profess his feelings for his love interest by "skywriting words up in space that I just can't say to your face," only to realize that he can't bear to be without her long enough to complete the mission.
Dolieslager maintains a vibrant spirit amidst unlucky situations with his persistent "oh well" attitude as evidenced in the song "Fireflies," when love fizzles out almost before even beginning: "there's no doubt, the fireflies no sooner came than burned out . . . let 'em go." On "I Won't Let You Go," his down-to-earth, pragmatic sensibility comes full force with the line "here's to hoping we can make it safe and sound, the merriest of all go-rounds, though I know sometimes I'm gonna let you down, I won't let you go."
This up-and-coming, Los Angeles-based, pop/rock performer has no reason to be pessimistic about his future in the music business. Having already made his full band debut at the House of Blues on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, Dolieslager recently celebrated his CD release, opening for major label artist Tyrone Wells in front of a sold out crowd at the Roxy Theatre.
-Paste Magazine (reader)
