Bill Orcutt - How To Rescue Things [LP - Palilalia]

Release Date: 11/29/2024

Orcutt's razor-sharp Fender slices through the satiny settings in angular and unexpected ways, particularly in the final tracks 'Requiem in Dust' and 'The Wild Psalms,' where his double picking swerves into almost Sharrock-ian territory. But ultimately, true to the Parker records that started this whole trope in the first place, Orcutt sticks to a complex yet tonal path throughout, imbuing tracks like 'Not Reconciled' (with its crooned 'Oh my god' and a cheeky 'amen' tacked to the end) with wide-eyed romantic optimism that goes down strange in a deathbed ballad. But ultimately, it's not strange at all. Rather, this palliative track celebrates a necessary, death-defying joy in the face of darkness—whether genuine or performative is unimportant. And what's more genuinely American than whistling past the graveyard? Just ask Judy Garland."—Tom Carter