Quarentina
Sonic Ritual, 2021
8/10
Joe Cardamone has an impressive resume that includes nearly two decades fronting the punk outfit The Icarus Line. On his own, though, Cardamone is much harder to label, and the many problems of 2020 were the impetus for this very unique, minimal and raw commentary on the status quo.
“Laws” starts the listen with much atmosphere as Cardamone’s mysterious vocals steer the hazy opener, and this leads to the equally unique “Dead Sky”, which uses soundbites amid a dreamy landscape.
There’s 20 tracks here, and each one is unclassifiable. Songs like “New Moon” rely on bits from the news alongside bright synth that unfolds in an almost spiritual fashion, while “Count In Sevens” is light and airy, and embraces a cinematic quality that’s a bit ominous. “December Piano” then buzzes with a playful execution of spacey ideas that eventually leads into warm piano.
Closer to the end, the jarring “The Tower” offers some of the most intense moments of the listen and probably represents the violent unrest of the year, and “Ur So Cool 2” allows Cardamone’s versatile pipes to shine in a stirring, pretty, late album highlight.
Also a film, Quarentina documents life in Los Angeles during the pandemic, as the short songs tell the story of struggling with a new way of life during forced closures. Perhaps the most ambitious work he’s done in his lengthy and esteemed career, this is nowhere near as noisy as his full band work, but equally creative.
Travels well with: Coddiwomple- The WALK And Other Stories; Brudini- From Darkness, Light