You want intelligent style with good guitar crunch and sass enough to pull off smooth defined? "Incubus." Consider yourself clued. Remember that dramatic vocal finesse infection of an enthusiastic Mike Patton? Sir Brandon Boyd of "Incubus" commands the same level of respect and earns the title "singer" with howls of downy smooth presence. But, there is a nice punch mixed with the almost jazz like deliveries of check-timed structures and sly ass workings of melodies you'd think impossible for rock band.

"Incubus" show a range and musicianship that will impress even if their music isn't your bag. Feel the Faith No More. Crunch on down tuned Deftones/Korn guitar throttle. Groove on the spacey explorations of vibe and percussion. Embrace the "Incubus" as they offer the same. There is an honest sense of exposure in Boyd's delivery and the passion is easily felt from the rest of the unit. The bass player is phenomenal, with guitars that know when not to play, as well as supplying a dynamic toggle between effect driven tweaks and full on riff'n crunch.

The big crash builds and breaks are mostly predictable and the dynamic is an easy target, but structures are complex enough to offer unexpected impressions and mood shifts. With additional DJ wankery, which seems to have become a legitimate rock staple, the trip is even spacier. Smarter than most and still being able to deliver some intensity to keep the angst up, ". . .feels like a Matador taunting me with his reddest red cloth. . .and I am the bull,"from "When It Comes," smacks a familiar chord in us all. It's the smoothest sassy chunk out there and delivers across the board with a smart slap to the face of heavy rock with jazzy quirks in the mix. Quite Satisfying.

Stamp it "fresh".