Review Summary: ...I remember feeling the opposite of falling
Maybe you have been a fan of Incubus since their early genre bending, electronic filled, high energy funk metal days in the nineties? Or maybe you found Incubus when they flipped their style more towards a radio friendly rock sound with their double platinum selling Morning View album at the end of 2001? Or just maybe you are the casual fan who likes a handful of their tracks from across their discography and are curious to hear what direction the band are heading in with their latest release?
However you have arrived at this destination, the point is you have arrived and you want to know what to expect with the new EP, Trust Fall Side A. Have Incubus performed a one eighty and revisited their youth? Or are they more than happy to play it safe and put out a collection of polished, well produced middle of the road plodding rock/pop songs? Songs that littered the bands previous release, If not now...when? An album that fiercely pushed the direction of Incubus towards a lethargic, uninspired fork in the road that no doubt, alienated completely what remained of the original fan base from the nineties.
The answer is no. What Incubus has decided to do is play around with the sounds mostly visited on Light Grenades and a crow left of the murder. Both albums are very solid commercial rock albums, and always appealed to the part of me which loves the stripped down, four musicians in a garage thrashing it sound. With this EP, Incubus sound like a band that are inspired enough to craft a handful of songs which are varied enough to keep the listener interested.
The EP opens with ‘Trust Fall’ in a surprisingly tame crescendo of percussion that falters into a guitar thirsty breakdown. It’s ferocious and groovy in all the right places, and with an added hint of lyric addictiveness, it’s an opener that pleases to say the least. The track’s haywire tempo leads comfortably into funk-meets-groove partners ‘Make out Party’ and ‘Absolution Calling’.
This middle section of the EP is where we see true hints of shoe gaze. Guitar distortion and low-line bass create an alluring grunge number in ‘Make out Party’. It’s certainly not the upbeat number that greeted you six minutes previous. Whilst in most cases this would possible leave a confused body of work, here, it creates layers that excite.
By the time you make your way into drips and drabs of electronica, you’re met with closer ‘Dance like You’re Dumb’. On the surface, it almost sounds like a Razorlight meets Royal Blood number with its indie-rock rapidity and distinct vocals. Through the track there’s a disappointing lack of real guts – that’s when the outro kicks in. An infusion of soul vocals and guitar, percussion malfunction spawn a little world of craziness. Somehow, it kinda works.
This EP is here to try and regain some faith from us all. Some faith that Incubus may have just settled into a direction they intend to keep travelling in....fingers crossed.
