Fungus Amongus

My junior year of high school (a fair amount of time has passed since then) all my friends are heavily into Incubus, but I have a good laugh at them. At the time I was very much into punk, indie, and heavy metal, and Incubus seemed to be yet another nu-metal band. If it wasn't their music that completely disgusted me, it was Brandon Boyd's inevitability to be shirtless everytime a camera was placed upon him.

Then the day came when a random friend told me his mother bought him the first Incubus and it was the best thing he had ever heard. He placed it in his CD player and though I was not floored, I must admit I was hearing something by Incubus and I actually enjoyed it.

This album has a fair amount of Primus, Faith No More, and Chili Peppers influencing it (especially in the bass, which is much heavier and louder in the mix than most future efforts) however in Boyd's quirky lyrics and oft-changing vocal stylings I heard a young man who obviously was a Mr. Bungle fan, and I can't bash him for that. "Gonna Be A Hot Dancer" and "Hilikus" are songs cut from the more Mr. Bungle-esque thread, as they feature frantic screaming by Boyd, something he hardly does anymore. Other songs have more of a funk 'n roll sound to them, similar to early Chili Peppers with a much better lead guitar player (sorry John, Dave, and Hilel, but you guys are no Mike Eisinger). "Sink Beneath the Line" features some of the best Eisinger guitar work in his entire career, it is hard to believe he was so young at the time.

As good as this album is, it just doesn't have a strong cohesiveness; and the songs themselves are only half memorable, with the exception definitely being "Sink Beneath the Line". But one can't come down too hard on this album as it shows a high school aged band that manages to sound as though they have been playing for years. This album is not for everyone, but if you are a hardcore Incubus fan, than it is a must. In my case, this was the first Incubus album I was able to appreciate, and now I own everything by them. It was my gateway drug into becoming an Incubus junkie.