It's rare enough for a band to still be in existence as long as Incubus, much less still be making memorable music. So how impressive is it that Light Grenades is perhaps the band's most accomplished album yet? These 13 songs contain plenty of the signature Incubus sound -- polyrhythmic percussion, atmospheric guitars and vocals -- but also take that formula into new and rewarding places.
At a few points, singer Brandon Boyd and his band mates lighten up with pleasing results. There's a catchy chorus to "Diamonds and Coal," a song that's positively stripped down compared with the band's typically heavy approach. Likewise, "Paper Shoes" opens with a finger-picked acoustic guitar handling the familiar Incubus pensiveness.
It's a nice touch. Those moments accentuate the moodier tracks, such as the brooding, echo-laden introduction to the opening "Quicksand." The song's drowsy pace is an apt reflection of the title; it's the musical equivalent of sinking slowly beneath the surface.
That song segues into the harder rocking "A Kiss to Send Us Off," which is closer to the band's Morning View period. The best thing about Light Grenades is that Incubus doesn't sound as if it's copying itself. Instead, this material reflects a band that has been together long enough to showcase its strengths and enlist them in a variety of ways.
The result is sometimes straight-ahead ("Anna Molly"), sometimes pretty ("Love Hurts") sometimes a combination of the two ("Oil and Water"). There's even a dose of punk in the title track. Such range would be a stretch for other bands, but Incubus does it easily on the surprisingly explosive Light Grenades.
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