Review Summary: Good Vibes Only
Covet completely lack pretension. And it’s not just the soothing quality that carries their progressive and complex music, it’s the way they carry themselves. Smiling from ear to ear in all of their music videos and live performances, music for them is as much about having fun as it is saying something artistically. Even the way they’ve expanded on their formally exclusively instrumental sound to include guitarist and bandleader Yvette Young's surprisingly warm voice is in an unpronounced way, she only sings on two of the ten tracks as if to make the guitar guys listening feel just a little less envious at the fact that Yvette can do everything and they can’t. Covet's music doesn't need vocals, but it adds another layer to their already excellent take on virtuosic guitar-driven math rock, and of course, they're not making a big deal about it.
The music on
technicolor is much more about melody than technicality. Not to say it’s not technical because hot damn Yvette Young puts 99% of ax wielders to shame, but the songwriting emphasis is way more about melody than it is complex time signatures and rapid-fire staccato wankery. Much of
technicolor has more in common with Joe Satriani’s more melodic work than it does traditional math-rock especially since the single lead guitar is almost exclusively the driving force of the music. Structure wise a lot of the arrangements scream prog rock, like the sprawling "Odessa," and "Aries" with its complex 7-string guitar work sounding like a more relaxed clean-toned cousin to an Animals as Leaders track.
Technicolor hits all the genre beats - open tunings, all sorts of two-handed tapping, funky guitar pedals, violin, and deeply layered arpeggio sections - but what sets it apart is how joyfully they’re shredding through such complex arrangements. The addition of singing is so significant even if it’s only on two tracks (with humming on another) because it feels justified within those two tracks, and it doesn't hurt that Yvette's voice is wonderful. Most importantly it’s not a gimmick, Covet could have completely abandoned their instrumental background in order to present a more commercial sound, but they didn’t, there are restraint and care for only including what the songs need. Covet clearly had a blast making
technicolor which makes it even more of a joy to listen to, and it should launch Covet into the top tier of instrumental rock.
