Incubus hatched in the early Nineties when a group of Calabasas, California, teenagers started jamming together in high school — they eventually made themselves into multi-million-selling artists, and have maintained a healthy fan base for decades.
After initially bringing the fungus to us and dropping mad s.c.i.e.n.c.e with a pair of heavy-edged, wildly funky LPs, the band eased into a more pop-forward brand of alt-rock that gained them further acclaim at the tail end of the Nineties.
While both directions have their staunch supporters, we asked our readers to single out the greatest Incubus song ever. They drove the point home while voting accordingly.
“Wish You Were Here”
By the time Incubus started working on 2001’s Morning View, the California quintet was progressively moving away from their initial heavy sound to deliver a more Arabica-roasted infusion of hard and soft rock.
Yet while the video for first single “Wish You Were Here” finds frontman Brandon Boyd gently shimmying out an egg-shaker rhythm in the intro, the anthemic and distorted crush that guitarist Mike Einziger brings to the chorus blows his singer’s silk shirt wide open.
Fans dug their toes into the sand and demanded we put this into the top five.
“A Certain Shade of Green”
We made a written invitation for Incubus fans to fill us in on their favorite tracks, and the heavily funked “A Certain Shade of Green” came through as a major player in this week’s poll.
The S.C.I.E.N.C.E. single serves up a bunch of slap-happy bass tones and bombastic rhythms. Boyd puts a rapped, screamed and sung call out to the rest of us to get off our asses and seize the day.
It’s a song that’s had the faithful bouncing around like maniacs well past 2012 A.D.
“Pardon Me”
Revolver readers rung the alarm to let us know that Incubus’ first Make Yourself single is still straight fire.
“Pardon Me” measures itself in contrasts: The verse juxtaposes drummer José Pasillas’ all-twitch snare papping with spacious, galaxy-drift guitar reverberations, while Boyd shifts gears countless times with his tempo-flux raps. They unite and explode through the chorus’ melodically potent, gunpowder-scented groove.
If you’ll pardon the expression, the fans love every goddamn second of it.
“New Skin”
While Incubus would evolve their sound over the years, many fans feel that the sonic aesthetic of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. songs like “New Skin” fit like a glove.
The fabulously funked-up feel of the second single off Incubus’ 1997 sophomore LP has got a lot going for it — consider Gavin Koppel’s eagle-screamin’ turntable scratches, or the tight and pingy percussive notes that Rattamahatta their way out the speakers like a lost Roots track. Then again, the way Boyd shout-raps and croons above the heavy funk-rock rhythms of this “chaotic catastrophe” give everything a strong Faith No More vibe.
Either way, Incubus jam-slammed some serious knowledge on us with the S.C.I.E.N.C.E. standout, and the fans have never forgotten it.
“The Warmth”
“Don’t let the world bring you down.”
“The Warmth” didn’t top the charts like breakthrough hit “Drive” did — hell, it wasn’t even singled out as a target track back when Make Yourself arrived in 1999 — but the deep cut has glowed within the hearts of the fan base for more than a quarter century.
Fit with soulfully whale-moaning guitar ambiance, a light-yet-funky backbeat and a ton of positive vibes from Boyd, “The Warmth” is one of the most feel-good statements in the entire Incubus catalog. Its glass-half-full take on the world around us is a solid reminder that “not everyone here is that fucked up and cold.”