Yet To Be: Farewell EP to Thick as Thieves

If you want to be that cool friend who gets your rock n roll friend that perfect holiday gift look no further..



.YET TO BE.....

(Before I proceed with this, I guess you can call it a review, I have a confession to make. I usually don't like music reviews. Just like I don't like Seattle drivers going UNDER the posted speed limit.)

“It’s 60 MPH Seattle 12’s, it’s not asking you to go 12 below the posted limit!”)

Sorry. That's not the confession.

I had the pleasure of knowing  the guitar player for the Emerald Cities’ new exciting rock n’ roll band Yet to Be for a year as he was our neighbor.

It’s Yet to Be determined if he will accept by Facebook friend request but hey, it’s early.

(Ok, I’m allowed one pun)

I digress. I like rock n' roll. I consider myself a jazz man with a blues heart. It's the Cleveland, Ohio in me.

Three years ago my wife and I moved into our Redmond, Wa apartment complex only to meet are affable, gregarious, fun loving neighbor Brett who told us he was in a band. Cool I thought internally. It's the Seattle area I spoke to myself, who isn't? (My naïve Midwest sensibilities got the best of me)

"What do you do?" he asked.

"Security, and on the side stand up comedian."

"Huh, I'm sorry to hear that."

We went our separate ways and truly are friends and so he sends me his band’s page. I haven't seen Brett in almost two years now.  Wow, I certainly have heard him though.

To me this is what I thought upon first listen of this fresh EP that had me aghast that Seattle created this and that  the ever grey rain DOES have a purpose.  I wrote in my notebook after the first listen through:

Yet to Be might yet to be famous (I'm so funny),  but if you can imagine for a minute a young Muddy Waters deciding to take a great hit of Incu-Can-abis (Incubus) then imagine the possibilities of what's Yet To Be can be and is: Bringing a rock n roll that EVERYONE can fall in love with. Got Blues? Check Got Classic rock? Check Prog rock roots? Check Jazz? Check. Oh and quite frankly, do they rock? Check.

I went back this past month to give their debut EP another listen and listen and listen. Here’s what I discovered from their Farewell EP. (Fitting title considering this band isn’t saying goodbye but putting it ‘all on the line’.)

1.)    Think and Breathe- Yet To Be’s EP starts with a guitar progression that Television’s Tom Verlaine via Marquee Moon would be proud of. The rhythm section of bass player  Stevie Nix Nicholson and drummer William Richards comes in with a shuffle following a croon so on point with lyrics that, well, (read the title). Singer Samuel Shaefer can breathe, and sing.  An ever so placed drum fill by Richards introduces an almost Johnny Cash session guitarist like break by guitarist Brett Hulet . A true opening track that leaves the listener asking what’s this band been through? The blues. The band sounds tight. You can tell they’ve played their instruments before. I can't tell by listening whether they are saying 'farewell' to an old sound, or goodbye to trying to be anything but themselves.

It's not Ginger Baker of Cream it's William Richards. I think it's him.

Cat can play.

2.)    Feed the Fire- The title of this track again is on point to what the music shows us from a band that wants everyone who loves rock n roll to know what’s up. Feed the Fire starts off to me like Metallica when they had balls and weren’t trying to be the San Francisco Orchestra (love you!) Richards hits his crash symbols and snare the same way Shaefer hits the notes that give rock n roll euphoria to every kid who knows the back stage bliss. I’m not sure if Shaefer is any relation to the Canadian band leader but like the famous Paul one, I’m now bald from his vocality to rock my hair off. A guitar and bass solo together? Who told this band they can be both Miles Davis, Incubus, the Stooges, and 70’s soul garage band in one song!? Hulet and Stevie Nix (Sounds like an attorney group (if lawyers rocked like this they wouldn’t have a bad name) play off each other finding the rhythm and giving up their peace offering to the gods of rock n’ roll.  

3.)    The River- Let me go down this one on a canoe that doesn’t need paddles but rather just care free worries and thoughts. So begins my mind as it sounds as if Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion meets the Foo Fighters meets, I don’t even know. Just listen to it and be transported ‘by the river.’ Perhaps Matt Foley, Chris Farley’s motivational speaker will be there to great you as it did my third eye thinking about what this song aspires to accomplish: Refection and redemption. The underdog of tight musicianship is the feel of Richards and Stevie Nix keeping it in check as the guitar works in and out of solos and rhythm. This is a river that gives it all. Pain, joy, suffering and good ole’ rock in roll. The 70’s Allman Brothers just exploded out of Seattle kids and met Mother Love Bone and early Pearl Jam! The vocals have a call and response with the rest of the band that makes you want to check your GPS to find this river. A guitar that screams for understanding, and a band that's pleading with you to meet them (you don't have to be thrice divorced) at this river. Honestly this song made me think of my childhood back in North East Ohio near the Cuyahoga River. That river, like this song caught on fire!

Brett Hulet ripping into a gut wrenching solo

4.)     Dice- At first listen I thought to myself this is a hidden of a gem Rolling Stones from the Some Girls LP. We have piano? We have reggae? Here the band brings in session player  Brent Henderson, who does a marvelous job show casing skill, restraint, and blend with the rest of the band. Moving his fingers like he didn’t forget his Seattle coffee order, Henderson, doing his best Herbie Hancock, goes up and down the piano with such grace.  Hulet gives  Bob Marley’s guitar an indie rock feel. Are you Feeling Kind of Blue, chest deep in Muddy Waters? So What! (jazz and blues references kids) Listen to Dice.

Smoothe.

Unlike the Stones, this song isn’t Tumbling Dice, but rather a dice that tells you to go for it. It knows where it’s going even if it doesn’t know.  The jazz, slightly funky rock blend here is precise. The Rhythm of all four members plays beautifully in synched with each other. It’s Yet to Be determined (ok I lied two puns) if these guys are secretly talking with Miles Davis in rock n roll heaven about what he would sound like if he wanted to add guitars and vocals but I’m keeping an eye on them! As should you. “You got to roll the dice, lay it on the line.” Luckily, I can press play and lay down on the ground; to enjoy this track. **Also when a band gives the bass player and drummer a funky spot in a song to show his skill, they kind of rock, soooooo**) Shaefer, Hulet, Stevie Nix, Richards and Henderson all blend with elegance. You can hear the fun and playfulness of the group in this track. Pretentiousness is something this band couldn't have if they tried. They come across like the Pixies, Bare Naked Ladies, Miles Davis and whatever band is Yet To Be (Ok, last pun I swear to God!)

5.)    Pull the Pin- What happens when you pull the pin? You hear the explosion that is this Farewell EP coming to life how they started this trip; with a bang!

This Mariner bobbled head wants you to 'think and breathe'

If there’s a theme with YET TO BE it’s you have to give life a chance even if you don’t know. Because the truth is you don’t. None of us do. Pull the Pin. Roll the Dice. Feed your fire, your desire. Reflect in your ‘river’ of all the mud, sweat, tears, laughter.

I give this EP a resounding 4.5 John Bonham fills out of 5. Why not perfect? Because it’s not a full length LP. That’s right, I want more.

Be on the lookout Seattle (and America) for this greater Seattle area band as they look to bring back the Wizard of rock n roll’ possibility to the Emerald City.  It’s a rock n roll that we ALL can enjoy.

Guilty party of musicians:
Samuel Shaefer (vocals)
Brett Hulet (Lead guitar, guitars and background vocals)
Stevie Nix (bass player, background vocals)
William Richards (drums)

Be on the lookout for Yet To Be's debut full length album 'Thick as Thieves' due out December 27th!

Search Yet To Be on Facebook

Seattle, if you want to check out YET TO BE here is a LIVE DATE coming up

--

Friday, November 25 at 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM at EL Corazon. Seattle

DOORS: 6:00 PM / SHOW: 6:30 PM
EL CORAZON
THIS EVENT IS ALL AGES
TICKETS $8.00 - $10.00

It's Holiday Season. It's the gift that keeps on giving. ROCK n ROLL