To be perfectly honest, we haven’t thought about Incubus for a long time. They started out a a funk metal band in the vein of Faith No More, even playing Ozzfest 1998 with System of a Down and Tool. After their third album, 1999’s Make Yourself, was released, they became an alt-rock radio staple off the strength of singles like “Pardon Me,” “Stellar” and “Drive.” The California band actually hasn’t been that active lately, not having released an album since 2011. However, their eighth studio album will be coming out this Spring, and today they released a new track from that album, “Nimble Bastard.” 

On the same day we get new music from Papa Roach and Linkin Park, it’s a full-on late ’90s revival. However, unlike Linkin Park’s “Heavy,” which isn’t, the new Incubus track is pretty lively. We’re not going to go ahead and declare it “metal” or anything, but it’s actually a good, driving song. There’s no rapping, dj scratches or anything like that, but it’s catchy upbeat and somewhat raw sounding. Incubus will be out on tour this Summer with Jimmy Eat World, because nostalgia. Look for the new Incubus this Spring on Island Records.