Part of the ever-burgeoning music scene in Brighton, InTechnicolour specialise in energetic, thundering, feel-good rock, wearing their influences on their sleeves right from the outset. ‘Miami Funk’ kicks off with a lo-fi riff before bursting into a full-on technicolour groove that gives you the feel of Queens of the Stone Age, Clutch, Karma to Burn – you get the picture. ‘Under the Sun’ has drummer Sam Coveney channelling his inner Dave Grohl with a booming, pulverising beat, whilst vocalist Tobie Anderson has a fine set of pipes, able to plumb the depths and hit the highs when the song requires. The first four songs all give a feeling of summery warmth, good times and humour but what about the rest of the album?
‘Gallon Man’ slows things down significantly, the band working in unison to deliver a Deftones-esque slab of heaviness that can’t help but satisfy. And still with a catchy earworm of a refrain. Damn it – these guys, intentionally or not, know how to write songs to sing along to. ‘Doomer’ is a paean to getting older and trying to get the best out of life, whilst ‘Slow Moth’ provides some respite from all the pummelling with a dreamy, psychedelic opus that brings to mind Mastodon and Baroness during their slower moments, a track that builds to a stunning outro.
Closing track ‘Tortoise’ could have come from those desert dwelling giants themselves, Kyuss. A ten minute behemoth, it wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Blues for the Red Sun. Despite all the influences, the comparisons and the similarities at times, InTechnicolour have more than enough originality about them to put their own stamp on the stoner rock genre and not be mere imitations of what has gone before. Big Sleeper is an album definitely worthy of your time and money.
Big Sleeper is released 21st February via Big Scary Monster and can be purchased here
Words – Scott Crawford
