Light Grenades

When I popped in Incubus’ latest CD, Light Grenades, I expected a worthy follow-up to 2004’s A Crow Left of the Murder. Boy, was I disappointed. There are a couple of good tracks: “Anna Molly” and “Dig.” But beyond that, the album is scatterbrained, almost as if it was thrown together at the last minute. The first thing I noticed was the lack of depth in the lyrics—something that has always set frontman Brandon Boyd apart from other songwriters. Lyrics like “Even diamonds start out as coal” and “We are like oil and water / And we are trying to mix it up” kill what could have been good songs. And “Earth to Bella”—don’t even get me started. First, it’s a horribly boring song (even Boyd sounds bored and doesn’t put in much effort singing). Second, it’s in two parts. Uggh. “Anna Molly,” which has been played only intermittently on the radio—as opposed to 2004’s completely overplayed (but still much loved) “Megalomaniac”—is the high point of the CD: the lyrics are smart, the beat is heavy and the guitars wail in tight synchronicity. If only the rest of the album had followed suit.