Both “The Original” and “In the Company of Wolves” boast terrific middle-eight sections, fracturing the comparatively docile verses and choruses with some much-needed hedonistic riffing. That is, taking a more rousing approach to their songs and turning up the gain on Mike Einziger’s amplifier. It’s no coincidence, then, that what works on If Not Now, When? almost always finds the band returning to ye olde traits. In essence, it feels as though Incubus has lost their identity in their attempt to conform to dad-rock stylings. “Friends and Lovers” and “Isadore” are the kind of squeaky-clean balladry that simply doesn’t suit the band. Frontman Brandon Boyd does his best to save these numbers with the remarkable vocals we’ve come to expect from him, but he’s let down by the songs’ subpar arrangements. The album’s opening series of songs is most indicative of this shift toward monotony, with the title track and the single “Promises, Promises” proving to be terribly uninspiring.

Too many of these tracks drearily amble by, leaving little or no impression.

And while If Not Now, When? sounds even more like the mature-sounding album their last two releases tried so hard to be, the group has lost touch with almost all of their best characteristics. The Incubus of 2011 is a very different beast than the one that saturated MTV and alternative radio around the turn of the millennium, with the band putting their giddy genre-bending exercises behind them in pursuit of a more subdued, sober sound.

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