Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt

Brace Up!

BY Daniel SylvesterPublished Oct 31, 2018

8
Considering both musicians have followed the same noisy career trajectory over the past 20 years, it's surprising that it took Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt this long to join forces.
 
As Orcutt has focused on deconstructed folk and blues over the past decade-and-a-half, his collaboration with drummer Chris Corsano has the guitarist playing at his most raw and brash since his Harry Pussy days.
 
But on Brace Up!, the duo's 12-song debut, Orcutt comes off oxymoronically sophisticated, while Corsano, ever the focused musician, sounds downright unhinged. Tracks like "Amp vs. Drum" and "Paranoid Time" find the duo hammering their instruments in perfect harmony, while gentler tracks like "She Punched a Hole in the Moon for Me" and "Love and Open Windows" find Orcutt pulling out some genuinely harmonious melody lines while Corsano unwearyingly fills in the holes.
 
On Brace Up! Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt sound like 150 musicians; 75 who've totally lost their minds, and 75 who've got their shit together.
(Palilalia)

Latest Coverage