Desert Hearts/Throat

Two of Northern Ireland’s finest shared the bill on one of the new series of gigs at The Project. Generally used as a space for theatre, the venue has a residual air of tension and hush, which was tough for the bands to shatter, particularly given the sparse audience and the empty space between the rows of seats and the stage, which lent the impression of observing a piece of art, rather than a living, breathing interactive gig.

Desert Hearts are a three piece made up of singer/guitarist Charlie Mooney, bass-player/singer Roisin Stewart plus dynamic drummer, Chris Heaney, down for what I think may have been their first Dublin show. The band create some exceptional music, enchanting lo-fi guitar-heavy songs, precariously hung upon spasmodic riffs and desolate fragments of lyrics, barely realised by wisps of soft tentative vocal.

But the sound began to get slightly muddled, as drummer took to keyboards and singers swapped mics of varying quality. Despite their self-deprecatingly titled debut album, Let’s Get Worse, they took technical hiccups very seriously, their frontman, a ringer for a young John Cusack, appearing increasingly anguished as sound hitches meant restarting one (eventually abandoned) song.

After some lip trembling and blushing, they launched into their last blast of glorious noise with as much gusto as could be mustered under the circumstances.

Throat tried to take the less than huge turnout in their stride, but their set was also curtailed by technical problems. With two vocalists/guitarists exchanging riffs and verses, Throat are capable of creating considerable noise and energy levels, but sadly the venue didn’t suit their efforts. Songs like their new single ‘Cleaver’ have a great

co-ordination of punky verses and

stadium rock choruses which could be brilliant in the right live situation.

Throat were nonplussed and finally defeated when the bass-player’s instrument suddenly ceased to function after about five songs.

The Project is a great space, with plenty of potentially wonderful gigs on offer, but it has some way to go before both bands and punters alike are happy with the quality of the sound and atmosphere.