Music should be like any satisfying thunderstorm: a combination of thunder and lightning. The lightning sparks the interest and the thunder delivers the long awaited for and much relished BOOM!

Unfortunately, Project Mojo’s latest release, “Operation Thundercloud” has only the spark to pique interest in their eclectic album, but gives little to no punch-line, and certainly not the expected “oomph” of a truly cathartic album.

That is not to say that Project Mojo’s work is not of a good quality, because the instrumentation and the composition seem solid, if you can separate one song from the next. Overall, the most disappointing aspect of this record is that there is little distinctive about it. Like a passing shower, you feel it while you’re being soaked, but once gone it’s just as quickly forgotten.

There are, however, a few tracks that make the album worth at least one run through. “Empty Sails” is easily the best and most engaging track as it provides a mellow base-line, dreamlike vocals, and an atmospheric sound that is sadly not present in more of the CD. Pity, because the next best tracks, “Carousel Dream” and “Now Never Nowhere” are more appealing because of the arrangement and instrumentation than for the vocals.

While Project Mojo fits neatly into the genre-bending “alternative” category, it can be difficult to determine what sound they are trying to achieve. Perhaps style experimentation was the goal, but in an album such as this, it could have only helped to at least find a musical theme to keep the listeners’ attention and keep the vocals in tune.

Grade: C