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Incubus was spawned in 1991,
when vocalist/percussionist Brandon Boyd, guitarist Mike Einziger,
bassist Alex Katunich, and drummer Jose Pasillas decided to take
their friendship and mutual love of music one step further and
form a band. The Calabasas, California boys worked steadily through
self-promotion and gigging at all-ages shows to build up a loyal
following through neighboring California towns. Then, in 1995,
DJ Lyfe approached the band after witnessing one of their shows,
and offered them the use of some of his hip hop tracks. Incubus
had found its fifth member. Lyfe was instated after only one
rehearsal, and the quintet then concentrated on perfecting its
particular blend of favorite styles. "S.C.I.E.N.C.E."
is the debut full-length release for the band, following their
January, 1997 EP release, "Enjoy Incubus." Signed to
the same label as Korn, Incubus has already enjoyed some high-profile
opening gigs with their labelmates - especially in Europe, where
their tossed mixture of about half-a-dozen different well-known
styles seemed to go over with a particular bang. Now, while I
generally attempt to avoid comparing one band to another at all
costs, truth of the matter is, it can't be helped here. "Incubus"
sounds like a musical patch quilt of, most notably, such tried-and-true
giants as "Faith No More," "Rage Against the Machine"
and "Red Hot Chile Peppers." Add a bit of retro-funk
and hip hop, and you basically have the picture. Not that there's
anything wrong with emulating one's creative influences, you
understand. It's just that, in the case of "S.C.I.E.N.C.E.,"
these influences are so heavily in the forefront, I sometimes
felt as if I were listening to a cover band that couldn't quite
make up it's mind as to which tune to play next, so it simply
squeezed all choices into one big lump of sound. And I began
to wonder how much of the real "Incubus" would remain
once the sound layers of all these other acts were peeled away.
Still, "S.C.I.E.N.C.E." has its share of good moments.
Check the sounds of higher-energy tracks like "My
Favorite Things" and "Nebula," and the more jazz
and funk-oriented selections like "Deep Inside" and
"Summer Romance," and it's easy to see that "Incubus"
possesses a great deal more maturity and skill than other similar
young bands being released into the music market today. The potential
is there, and these guys certainly have time on their side to
develop it, if they choose to. It would be interesting to see
exactly where this band might go if they decided to use their
extraordinarily diverse musical tastes and influences to forge
new creative territories, rather than simply re-interpreting
the same musical paths that have been travelled countless times
before. |
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