Oh man, when I saw that I got Incubus' new disc in the mail I had some sort of lower lip spasm that signaled the recurrence that disorder most reviewers have.  Ever heard of anticipatedcrappitus?  Plagues the scribes about once a month and the obvious symptoms are groans of disgust, jitters due to procrastination, and anal leakage.  But y'know, the symptoms ceased after a few listens of this album, which was a pleasant surprise.  Because hey, this is the same band that put out that funky feel good tune "Drive" back in '99 that we hadn't heard from in awhile. 

So if we're going to talk about the music, I would have to say that these guys are sounding like much more interesting general rock.  They're not gonna blow you away, but considering what's out there Incubus at least will give you the hard guitars you're looking for without sounding stupid.  "Anna Molly" rushes at you after the verse and definitely hooks your ears, making it easily one of the best rock tunes on the album. The track after it, "Love Hurts," is not to be confused with Nazareth (oh well) but it still makes for a decent soft tune that fills the gaps between the heavy guitars.  It's on this tune that Brandon Boyd's whiny, high voice works very well with the contemplative pacing of the musicianship.  I also find that the usually bludgeoning guitar work of Michael Einziger can be extremely pretty, as evidenced by the delicate picking of the opening of "Paper Shoes".  The only real miss on the album is "Pendulous Threads" because it is noisy, horrible, and 5:35 minutes too long.

It seems I'll have to actually put the disc in from now on to get a proper opinion of cds no matter who the veteran band is, because Incubus has proved that they've still got some good notes left in them.  But hey, this doesn't mean I want the new 311 and Alien Ant Farm discs sent to me because I've lightened up a bit.  I can still send plastic frisbees of my 3rd story porch without much effort or feeling of guilt.