At the turn of the millennium, popular music was heading into a dark place. Cheesy boy bands and bling-obsessed hip-hop ruled MTV, and the only rock music cracking the Top 40 was abysmal—literally and figuratively.
The passion and punk-rock energy that sparked the grunge movement had faded and been co-opted by corporate interests. Major labels were signing bands like Nickelback, Three Doors Down and Stained—who sulked and lashed out angrily without ever saying anything of substance. Other alternative-dial acts were finding success by meshing horrorcore rapping with heavily distorted breakdowns. Leading this pathetic pack were a pair of bands that many would prefer to forget they ever liked: Korn and Limp Bizkit.
Both groups are now associated with the designation “nu metal”—a genre known for its questionable fashion choices, detuned seven-string guitars and ridiculously oversized pedal boards.
However, while many have surely excised the most regrettable titles, such as Life is Peachy and Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water, from their music collections, it is likely that a number of works by nu metal acts survived this purge.
Deftones and Incubus are two California bands that managed to weather the nu metal backlash with aplomb. These bands’ biggest records—Around the Fur, White Pony, Make Yourself and Morning View—scored big radio play in the midst of the millennial music slog, but remain listenable, enjoyable even, to this day.
Additionally, Deftones and Incubus proved incredibly influential for a generation of aspiring musicians. After garage bands stopped trying to sound like Nirvana and Soundgarden, but before they began emulating the likes of Taking Back Sunday and My Chemical Romance, they took their cues from Deftones and Incubus.
Listen to El Cielo by Los Gatos quartet, Dredg, and it’s not hard to hear traces of the atmospheric guitar work of Deftones guitarist, Stephen Carpenter and the ethereal melodies from Chino Moreno.
Or put on the self-titled 2004 LP by San Jose breakouts Strata. The loping bass lines, alternatingly sharp/effects-drenched guitars and ascendant vocals recall the work of Incubus’ rhythm section and its guitarist and frontman, Brandon Boyd.
None of this is to take away from the great music these local acts produced in the early 2000s. Rather, it is simply to pay respect to these two highly influential bands—Deftones and Incubus—who stood apart from the pack during the bleak years following Y2K.
Both bands are currently co-headlining a nationwide tour, which comes to Shoreline this week, reminding millennial alternative music fans that it’s always darkest before the dawn.
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