Incubus

‘A Crow Left of The Murder’

Epic/Immortal

When Incubus was curiously flung onto top 40 radio and MTV in 1999 with hits like “Pardon Mem” “Stellar” and the inescapable “Drive” off of their third LP “Make Yourself,” fans were naturally a bit lukewarm.

The band’s previous album, 1997’s “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” had been a moderate success, earning the band a small cult following. To many, their sound, a mixture of funk, rock, rap, punk and jazz, was an indication that Incubus had the potential to become the next Faith No More. The comparison was even heightened by charismatic frontman Brandon Boyd’s vocal similarities to Mike Patton, Faith No More’s innovative singer.

When the band broke into the mainstream scene in 1999, fans found themselves fearing that the band’s music would go mainstream as well. After all, “Make Yourself” was, while still infinitely more complex and pioneering than discs that were coming out by peers like Limp Bizkit and Korn, a step into a more simplified, easier to consume sound.

“Morning View,” Incubus’s 2001 follow-up, found the band dabbling even more into the world of easily consumed pop rock, much to the dismay of many of the band’s early fans. While the album contained many great tracks, it also had too many made-for-radio songs. The sounds of “Wish You Were Here” and “Warning” left fans wondering if the band was falling into a spiral of commercialism. “Morning View” lacked much of the funk and abstract elements that had helped to define Incubus earlier. Even Boyd’s voice had turned more into a soft croon, losing the Patton-esque edginess.

In fact, the Faith No More comparisons had stopped altogether. While a band escaping the shadow of a previous generation is normally a good thing, for Incubus it seemed to indicate Boyd and his band mates had abandoned their will to be as innovative as Faith No More.

Despite their momentary departure, Incubus has returned, both with a new bassist – Ben Kenney, of The Roots – and a new album: “A Crow Left of the Murder.” With these additions, Incubus is launching itself back into the right direction.

“A Crow Left of the Murder” is not “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” It’s doubtful that the band will ever return to the crunching riffs, semi-rapping, prominent turntable scratching and overall trippiness and innovation that presided over that album and won the band a hardcore cult.

However, that’s not a bad thing. A good band matures. And while maturing is a term, or excuse, that a great majority of bands use for mainstreaming their music to make it more acceptable for the masses, Incubus has proven that it knows how to grow gracefully.

“Make Yourself” was a step of maturity in the right direction, and “A Crow…” finds the band becoming comfortable with a sound that is slightly more relaxed, yet retains the experimental elements and exciting grooves that first garnered notoriety for the band.

While “A Crow” doesn’t near the excessively fast-pace of most of the “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” tracks, it is more upbeat than the numbingly moderately paced “Morning View.”

The first track, and lead single, “Megalomaniac” is a perfect indicator of the album’s sound. It leads with a good 30 seconds or so of guitar sensation Mike Einziger calling up effects and feedback. (In fact, throughout the entire album, Einziger makes use of his seemingly boundless guitar talent and predilection for combining effects pedals in a way that he hasn’t since “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.”) The track then settles into a more chilled-out verse. The song’s lyrics reflect a thinly veiled metaphor for President Bush, and the sound soon explodes, along with Boyd, into a furious chorus. Boyd knocks his subject down, telling him “You’re no Jesus / Yeah, you’re no f***ing Elvis” before demanding that he “step down.”

Much of “A Crow” seems to be packed with anti-Bush lyrics. “Talk Show On Mute” could more easily be applied to a State of the Union address than “The Tonight Show.” Boyd sings of a world something like a “Brave New World” in the pre-chorus. “Still and transfixed / The electric sheep are dreaming of your face / Enjoy you from / The chemical / comfort of America” Boyd croons, before referencing the Orwellian society of post 9/11 America – “Come one / Come all / Into 1984.” The bass-driven song and its pseudo-lounge chorus are among the album’s highlights, even upon first listen.

“Priceless,” with its hyper pace, recalls “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” more than anything other track on “A Crow” – even Boyd’s vocal delivery harkens back to 1997. The song is also notable for its curiously mixed-to-the-front snare drum that, while not quite as annoying as it sounds on paper, is a bit of a puzzling decision.

“Southern Girl” is a breezy track that sounds like a soundtrack to an island vacation. The song, at times, has the feel of a hit single, yet retains the natural feel of a song written by people who don’t care about pop charts.

“Here In My Room” sounds more like a dirge than a ballad, a testament to the band members’ decision to think for themselves and write the music they want to write.

One of the most positive and noticeable growths on “A Crow” is the way that the band has been able to mix trippy arrangements and pop melodies, especially sing-along choruses. One of the best examples is “Sick, Sad, Little World,” featuring a Primus-y riff in the verses, underneath a stunning vocal performance by Boyd. He sings falsetto, before settling down into a funereal pace with a piano line underneath his cautious vocals, and then jumps into a bass-driven and highly memorable chorus. Finally, the song leaps into an extended and amazing solo by Einziger. Someone could listen only to these two or three minutes of his playing and realize the great talent the band has in their hands.

Incubus have more than redeemed themselves for past indiscretions with “A Crow.” If anything, they’ve raised the bar to heights nearly impossible to top. “A Crow” is a likely candidate as the first great album of 2004. Of course the reason that, after all these years, Incubus still has a hardcore fan base is because they are able to better themselves.

While the album does have a pop element, the band seems to identify themselves as the crow in the album’s title. They are, no doubt, far to the left of the pack of mainstream acts whose pre-packaged and heartless music that leaves listeners desperately praying for a band like Incubus. They are actual artists, floating in what often seems to be an artless mob. The band’s experimentation and out-there effects on “A Crow” should ease fan’s worries and reinstate excitement over the band that may have been lost thanks to “Morning View.”

While “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” may have been one of the best albums of the past 10 years, this is no longer the same Incubus of 1997. This is the Incubus of 2004, and that is a damn good thing.