We all have soft spots for music that we were around during our “formative years”. I recognize that this is probably because their discography was one of the first I really plunged into as a kid. They’re much less offensive if you think of them as a pop band, but where’s the fun in that?Īnyways, if you couldn’t tell already, I’m an Incubus apologist. But critics didn’t ding Incubus on their ability to write pleasant pop melodies. Critic-types called them out for mildly pretentious lyrics, for being Cali-dudes with dreads, for a singer that always found some way to take off his shirt. They spent the ’90s and early ’00s writing perfectly acceptable middle-brow contemporary rock. It’s probably better than your neighbor’s kid’s ska band.
Not to spoil the review, but it’s not the worst album of the year.
Right now, Incubus’s new album, 8, is one of the lowest reviewed albums of the year according to AnyDecentMusic and Metacritic. And in a way, Incubus has summed up their entire oeuvre in this silly little chorus: is it hilariously tone-deaf? Or is it secretly self-aware? Do they really not know they are a band operating way past their (perceived prime)? They know that they’re kind of the butt of the joke, right? This chorus has to be a way of silencing critics off at the pass - of teasing themselves before we can tease them. That’s the way that Incubus starts their new album in “No Fun”. You’re a song that I never want to hear again.” Not Horrible! (that's how low the bar is) Island Records,