So what do four, bored, fifteen-year-old suburbanties do with their afternoons and weekends you ask? Well besides surfing, fretting over the opposite sex and popping zits, we formed a band! And like many bands do when they first come out and are still stuck on the idea of squeezing in as many notes as possible into each bar or each song, we made demos! The recordings presented herein are basically a snapshot of our band, Incubus, circa 1993-1995. We were somewhere between the ages of 15 and 17, and as even the most discriminating ear could deduce, still struggling to find our feet. "Fungus Amongus" was our attempt to turn our noses up to all record labels for not wanting to work with us and shopping these newly polished songs, and after several rejections, we decided that the most punk rock thing to do would be to create our own label, and release this, our first record, all by ourselves!
-Linear notes of Fungus Amongus
I love this album. It's so fun and crazy but let me going ahead and tell you:
This definently isn't the Incubus you are used to. Think of Primus and the early Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Track by Track:
You Will Be a Hot Dancer [3:47] - A great opening track to the album. It starts out with some funky guitar and smooth singing. After that, it erupts into a distorted chorus with Brandon yelling, "Don't you make fun of me!" After the first chorus, you get some pretty sweet bass licks. It ends with some kids yelling, "NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH! I'm a hot dancer!" I thought that was pretty funny. 4.5/5
Shaft [3:14] - This song is pretty good. The lyrics are strange, being "Who am I, I am you." After that, it explodes into another distorted chorus, with Brandon screaming "SHAFT SHAFT" steadily while singing over that. I have no idea what this song is about, but I don't really like it too much. It's too repetitive for my taste, but it definently isn't a boring song. Nice guitar riff. 3/5
Trouble in 421 [4:41] - This is one of my favorite songs on the album. I think this song is about being a 421 in a 420 world. I don't really get why they use "4 20" in more than one song. If anyone knows the meaning to this, tell me. Anyway, onto the song. It has some really cool singing (although it is hard to tell what he is saying). The guitar has a really weird rythm to it, but I love it. The bridge with the really high pitched singing is really nice. In my opinion, this is one of the better songs on the album.4/5
Take Me To Your Leader [4:27] - This song starts out with some weird noises. It sounds like some digital beat box type thing or something. Then Jose comes in on the toms, playing some jungle type rythm. The guitar starts in with another "Shaft!" like riff. Then Brandon comes in and sings one syllable on the downbeat. I like that a lot, it sounds cool. The lyrics on this song make me laugh. " What If I lived in a Pear?" Great song. 4.5/5
Medium [3:12] - This is definently the weirdest Incubus song I have ever heard. It has a really good bassline, and the woman singing along with Brandon is nice, but other than that, this song doesn't have much going for it. Lyrics are really strange, also. 2/5
Speak Free [4:55] - Now THIS is a great song. It's starts off with some steady, slow guitar riff, and then goes into an INCREDIBLE slap bass solo. I tell you, Dirk Lance is crazy. I can only guess that this song is about the government, with the lyrics being, "You took our lives away to increase your self esteem." The chorus is really nice too. The drums are pretty good, with a lot of fills and a steady rock beat. 5/5
The Answer [3:02] - This song starts out with a drum intro, then goes into a cool guitar riff. What I love about this song is the slap bass. This album is really based around Dirk's bass playing, and I love that a lot. The lyrics to this song are pretty weird, but I have no idea what they are about. Brandon once said that smoking his first joint helped his writing on this album, and it definently shows.
Psychopsilocybin [4:19] - I just listened this song a couple more times. Ignore what I last said. If you really pay attention the instrumentals in this song, it will blow your mind. The bass solo is just incredible, being one of the best that I have ever heard. The drum fill into the second verse made my jaw drop. The last guitar solo Mike plays is amazing, with a classic rock/latin kind of feel. Ignore what I said before. This song gets a 5/5.
Sing Beneath the Line [3:15] - This song starts out with two guitars playing some funky intro. After that, one guitar keeps playing, the rest of the band comes in, and the drums are really nice. Good funky beat, and the chorus is one of those that just makes you feel good. I don't really know what this is about either, but I think it's about rape or child molestation or something, however I'm probably wrong as I have never been good at interpreting lyrics. This is one of my favorites on the album. 5/5
Hilikus [3:16] - This song is probably my favorite song on the album. Dirk Lance really shows his talent here. The song starts out with a slap bass line, and keeps going throughout the. The guitar solos are really awesome too. This song is about being high, as the name of the song suggest (High Like Us). 5/5
Overall, this album is based around Dirk Lance's bass lines. This makes up for not being able to hear him much today, as he was kicked out of the band. This is my favorite Incubus album, I don't think I've ever met someone who thought the same.
I give this album a 4/5.
Incubus was:
Brandon Boyd (Happy Knappy) - Vocals and Djembe
Mike Einziger (Fabio) - Guitar
Dirk Lance - Bass
Jose Pasillias (Salsa) - Drums
