Incubus – Light Grenades

I've never been an Incubus fan. Until now.

Incubus is a band that has been extremely popular since 2001, but for me they've been invisible. My brushes with them have been brief and cursory. Things would have stayed that way if it wasn't for a radio play of "Love Hurts".

Driving home one day last week I was flipping through radio stations as I normally do. A song came on that had a very intriguing melody. I let it ride for awhile and didn't pay full attention until the chorus. The hook was powerful and unique; it pulled me into the song immediately. I sat on edge until it was over, hoping the DJ would say the name of the song one more time. Luck was with me and I scribbled it down, knowing iTunes was only a few short minutes away.

Once I got home and located the song I realized it was by Incubus, a band I had essentially written off. Intrigued, I listened to the sound bites of the other tracks on the album and found myself captured by most of them. Even for bands that I know I like, it usually takes a few listens for me to get into the album. This was just sound bites and I was already on board. I decided to go for it and buy the whole thing.

After in-depth analysis, I'm very glad I took the $10 chance. A few of the tracks are hit-material all on their own – Dig, Love Hurts, Anna Molly, Oil and Water, Diamonds and Coal, just to name a few. Furthermore, the album as a whole brings a lot of complexity and diversity that caught me happily off guard.

Some reviewers online accuse this album of being a bit of a sell out to radio friendliness. There are certainly radio friendly songs here, but I don't attribute that to a selling out of quality or depth. Instead, I just think they are really well written songs with undeniable hooks.

Listening to this I get a sense of Foo Fighters combined with Coldplay, two bands anyone would be happy to be compared too. There is delicacy in songs like Oil and Water and Love Hurts, but power in songs like Dig. There is also a little trippy, conceptual action in tracks like Quicksand (and since I'm a huge fan of Led Zeppelin, this always grabs a few points from me).

Don't be like me. Give Incubus a go right now, and don't wait for the music gods to strike you down via radio.