Projekt

Perhaps still struggling with the after effects of pretending to be Irish for a day, a large chunk of Glasgow’s drinking community may have decided that this was a good Saturday night to save their pennies; compared to the previous weekend at the same time, Box felt slightly subdued. Still, there is a fair crowd in, and at 11pm, London based band Projekt take to the stage.

Before they have uttered a sound, the frontman launches into a teary eyed eulogy to the mystical qualities of a well-known tonic wine. The mind boggles. However, this unconventional beginning is soon forgotten as Projekt launch into what goes down in this observer’s book as the finest display seen for quite some time. Their opening number ‘Rocket Science’ is punchy and energetic, our fine wine enthusiast is prancing around like a man possessed, and with every beat his body takes a twist. This truly is a rock band, pure and simple. With its thudding, regimented beat, second number ‘Desert Storm’ actually does invoke images of some kind of large scale military operation, and such is the pull of its authors, that towards the end of the song, a battalion of mini-skirted females charge the stage for a right good boogie. What is also worth noting is that the mix of the sound was absolutely spot on.

It was at this point that I too headed for the stage to confirm that my eyes were not deceiving me, and yes, the man with the nose for the grapes was indeed wearing a quite magnificent pair of blue tartan trousers. He announced that ‘like a boxer, this is the 3rd round’, and off they went into an unidentified attention grabbing song which was driven by a funky guitar part. It was around this point that I felt the strange urge to bundle these boys into my waiting Delorean and, at the required speed, whisk them back 30 years and along the road to The Apollo, for they surely would have had that balcony jumping. In such restrained times as these, the fact that they had turned a significant number of heads in a pub full of strangers and not only that, those heads were bopping along, was quite something.

Track 4 was their next single ‘The Compass’, which bore witness to some Morello-esque pickup switching from the guitarist (who looked ever so slightly like he had just strolled off the 18th green at Turnberry), and this was just a suggestion of the man’s abilities. Both he and the chap on bass possessed a dazzling array of pedals, at least 2 for each song, but these guys clearly knew what they were doing. The Compass is a good choice for a single, but your correspondent picks previous single ‘Ocean Passage’ as the stand out track; compared to the rest of the set, this was a slightly more restrained arrangement, but even so, augmented by our friend from the R&A producing another diamond of a guitar part, a dance-off waiting to happen.

It’s nearly seconds out, and the man in the middle again makes an impassioned speech, however this time his mind is on the imminent demise of BBC6. Passion and conviction coursed through his every word, which was very much the case with every moment of Projekt’s set; rounded off superbly by closing track ‘Projekt Music’, which halfway through ground to a halt and then re-invented itself as a ferocious stomp-a-thon. And the crowd bopped on. Guys, please come back to Glasgow very soon.


- Chris Rodger

I love this single! (Well - I think what I have here is a 'sampler' with the title track due a release, but the band could do worse than release these three tracks together.)

London four-piece PROJEKT formed a little over a year ago and this, their second single even includes an un-mastered demo of their first release, 'Desert Storm.' What I find so appealing is the variation of styles evident on these three tracks.

Title track 'The Compass' is also the opening song and has distinct leanings to electro music..... which is not normally my bag at all. However there is some searing guitar built into the track along with heavy bass lines and razor sharp riffs that keep it fresh and innovative. The vocals are big and round and despite the cry "I want it Electro!" in the chorus, the song retains an individuality often missed by many bands within the genre.

From this, the band shows their versatility with an acoustic version of 'Heroes and Villains.' This is a real contrast to the preceding track and sounds like a Country-based song from the Seventies! The vocals this time are slightly husky and the tempo upbeat. The guitar work is lovely with little jazzy runs going off in the background and the slice of harmonica brings in a real atmospheric touch. Yeah - pretty cool!

Previous single 'Desert Storm' completes this CD. A 'live' video of the band performing this track at the Carpe Diem Club in Leeds is appended and though the sound quality does PROJEKT no real justice, you will certainly get a feel of the band. This is a real mix of styles, with the bass lines and riffs of Kasabian and The Stone Roses mixing with the wall of guitar from the latter and Leeds' own The Music.

On this evidence, PROJEKT will surely be a band to watch out for in 2010.

(Released on 4th May 2010. For more information, see www.projektmusic.com )
- http://loudhorizon.com/Reviews/Archives/indie/Single-projekt-the-compass.html