Live: Project J @ Blue Frog

Project J, with Noush Like Sploosh, played the Blue Frog last Thursday, May 21, 2009.

You can count on St Xavier’s college to produce a jam band, and on the Xavierites of that batch to come out in numbers to support the same. Project J follow in the footsteps of Something Relevant as a Xavierite band experimenting in urban pop to the delight of a loyal group of batchmates, and, unfortunately in their case, not much more.

The ensemble was preceded by a solo performance by singer-songwriter Noush Like Sploosh. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a lyrical sensibility falling somewhere between A Fine Frenzy and Sara Bareilles, she performed two songs with melodies pretty similar to one another, though the first, ‘Convenient Parking’, did have some spunk to it. This was the highlight of the evening, and we’re surprised that none of her material is demo-ed on MySpace or anywhere online.

She was joined on stage by the rest of Project J and proceeded to perform a few more originals but none of them were nearly as memorable as her own work. Project J skirted pop-rock and threw in a few loosely formed chord progressions that were bearable predominantly due to Ms Sploosh’s vocal work. And then they replaced that. Smit Dharia took up vocal duties for much of the remainder of the evening and was precisely the right amount of abrasive the band required to sound wholly dischordiant. That combined with oft instrumental waywardness – particularly on behalf of the drummer – made for an unremarkable experience.

With Dharia on vocals, the band covered a few Stevie Wonder and John Mayer songs. These, as with most of the set, were largely nondescript, the only relative standouts being the longer-than-necessary jam sections with the STR horn section in support.

While we’d like to see more of Noush Like Sploosh in the future, Project J sorely need to get their act as a giant ensemble together.

Indiecision: C+