Thoroughfare
As Yet Unborn

Review By Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck
Click here to e-mail reviewer

  Thoroughfare brings the kind of excitement to your speakers that you crave to hear from an indie artist, especially if you happen to be a rocker at heart. For this listener it gets tiresome hearing the major label assembly line crap. Thankfully, indie music saved my soul many years ago and young and vibrant bands like Thoroughfare carry on the tradition of strong blood pumping indie rock that we have become accustomed to hearing.

As Yet Unborn, their most recent release on Rockpie Records (2007), does not disappoint. They kick off the album with the high-energy blast "Is It Alright" and that is followed by the melodic semi-ballad rocker "Let You Know," which sounds like a track that could easily burn its way to the top of any playlist. "The Value" is a power packed rocker that has a start and stop rhythm that blows the doors off then comes to a screeching halt, showing the versatility and fine musicianship from these young men. Subsequent tracks give you more of the same and you never tire of it.

The lead singer and guitar player Jordan Beach gets a quite a platform to let his talents shine. Thomas Boyd (bass) and Colin Cunningham (drums) are a juggernaut of a rhythm section that sets the paces while keyboard player Cameron Cunningham adds some taste and depth to the layers of varying sounds and tempos throughout this excellent album.

Beach is a fine vocalist that has equal capacity to belt out a heavy dose of authority for those fat and driving power chords and then take it down a few notches to offer some division and sentiment to his approach and style. This gives the band a broad paintbrush and musically and they deliver in spades on every track.

The audience that will listen to this music will be as varied as this band's talents. What it all boils down to is some listenable and understandable melodic rock with elements of metal and pop rock to make for a potent combination that keeps you coming back for a second helping.

After about the fourth listen I loved As Yet Unborn although I am sure a much younger audience will gobble this stuff up on the first listen. It helps have The Beatles and classic rock as one of your youthful stepping stones as a listener because when you hear quality you know it instantly, and that is exactly what happened for me with this band.

Enjoyment:

Sound Quality: