Published on Dec 30, 2005
Maybe I’m looking in all the wrong places, but there
seem to be a lack of many good women rockers out there. To be
honest, I don’t seek them out; the information available to me is
whatever gets played on the radio or talked about. Lucky for me,
bands like The J Project decide to send us their records.
I know of a few major rock bands led by women lead
singers, such as Heart and Joan Jett. Then there’s Sheryl Crow and
Alanis Morrisette for the solo crowd. However, when I listen to
them, I love their style and their attitude. Why should it just be
guys who get to sing about sex, drugs, and rock? Damn it, the
ladies are just as good. Case in point — The J Project.
J is the lead singer of The J Project (now there’s a
shocker) and she is damn good. I hear a lot of Sheryl Crow in her,
and by that I mean no one can question her ability to rock with the
best of them. There’s none of this screeching and screaming that
can plague an artist like Morrisette; J’s vocals are consistently
smooth but they pack a lot of punch. Attitude makes up a big part
of how effective a performance is, and J has plenty of that to go
around.
Of course, J could not carry on by herself. The lead
guitarist for the group, Gary, is excellent. One method I use to
gauge a guitarist’s success is how many times I say “wow” while
listening to the album. Gary passes the test easily. He churns out
some monstrous riffs and solos; just check out the slides he pulls
off on “Candy Cigarettes.”
Musically speaking, The J Project is legit. The
combined talents of the band members lend themselves well to just
balls-out rock. I appreciated the Led Zeppelin groove laid down on
the single “Delusions Of Grandeur,” and “Grown Ass Woman” reminded
me of “Wasted” off Sheryl Crow’s C’mon C’mon. These tracks
sounds like a Joan Jett record, which is compliment; who doesn’t
love “I Love Rock ‘N Roll”? The J Project captures that spirit, and
for that they get a thumbs up.
But this is not a perfect release. A few numbers just
don’t gel well with overall sound of the band. “Beautiful
Criminal,” reminded me a little too much of the fluff Santana and
Michelle Branch have put out the past couple of years. “Leaving”
seems to be the requisite power ballad, and while I won’t tear it
down, it isn’t that good. Finally, there is a cover of Hendrix’s
classic “Little Wing.” While Gary does an exquisite job in sounding
like Hendrix, the rest of the song has little flourishes of
keyboard and synthesizer, which was an automatic turn-off for me.
You just don’t do that to a Hendrix song; keep it as bare as
possible.
From what I’ve read, The J Project is gaining
notoriety, their single “Delusions of Grandeur” has charted on the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. Give Beautiful Criminal a
listen and you will understand why.