INCUBUS ARE “ADOLESCENTS” NO MORE

I can’t be the only metalhead who was ever super-into [pre-Morning View] Incubus. Make Yourself dropped in 1999 during my extended break from metal, but “Pardon Me” and “Stellar” had to be two of the only heavy songs making the rounds on modern rock radio at the time that I could actually get into. Incubus had that “wow, these guys are actually really good at their instruments”-factor that very few heavy mainstream bands of the day had and they were easily a cut above of the rest, even if they did have a DJ whose job it was to stand there and passively sell records.

So, Incubus have a new song.

Here’s the thing I’ve noticed over the years about guys who are really good at their instruments, play heavy music, and skyrocket to fame at a young age: they get bored. Lead guitarist/songwriter Mike Einziger started pushing outside the bounds of what was publicly acceptable as “Incubus music” by dabbling in 10,000 side projects that were 10,000x more experimental and challenging than writing Incubus tunes. My theory is that, feeling artistically satisfied via said side projects, Einziger has no problem pumping out the umpteenth version of “Drive” whenever it’s time to write new Incubus music. Enter new song “Adolescents.”

“Adolescents” isn’t bad, it’s just… kinda boring. The band has long since stopped writing heavy songs; they’re kind of a victim of Red Hot Chili Peppers Syndrome, if you will, only they skipped to Adult Contemporary status in half the time it took the Peppers. You can stream the new song here; if you were a fan of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. and Make Yourself, you will probably be disappointed, although at this point that shouldn’t come as any surprise. Regardless, I’ll still always listen to new Incubus whenever it comes out; Make Yourself was way too important of a record to me to simply dismiss this band forever. And like I said, the tune ain’t bad; it’s distinctively Incubus.

-VN