NO THROUGH ROAD – WINNER

If you haven’t heard No Through Road’s single Party to Survive then you need to adjust your radio dial. If it has become your creed, well then good luck to you! With the able assistance of Wolf & Cub, No Through Road are staking a claim for Adelaide as the hot-bed of the Australian music scene at the moment (low-fi coastal NSW indie-folk rockers aside). Comparisons to both Guided By Voices and Pavement are well warranted, with Matt Banham’s voice leading the way; plaintive, pleading and imploring you in the same way GBV’s Bob Pollard has for decades. That they sweat with the same intensity on stage should also not be doubted. As they launch into Woman’s Touch the deadpan delivery and stark guitar riff is almost enough to give rise to Ian Curtis’ corpse (RIP), while Peak/Ridge would do Stephen Malkmus proud, the rolling-thunder bass on Tornados (Oh Rachel) rounds out a terrific mid-album trifecta. They may consider themselves a dead-end, but at least they know a good thing when they are onto it. Certainly an odds-on favorite.

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