It all started in July when Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred Durst took to Instagram to debut his new "dad" getup. The look made more sense after Limp Bizkit premiered a new single called "Dad Vibes" for the audience at the Lollapallooza After Show, and arguably even more sense now that we've heard Still Sucks. The point is this – Limp Bizkit is back for the first time in a decade and, strange as it may feel to say, it seems like they've matured.
Still Sucks comes out of the gate fairly aggressively with the one-two punch of "Out Of Style" and "Dirty Rotten Bizkit," both of whose runtimes find Durst singing some pretty catchy hooks overtop a vivacious and energetic band. Still Sucks adds some harsh-vocal heaviness to the usual Limp Bizkit sound on songs like "Pill Popper" and "You Bring Out The Worst In Me," cranks out a Turnstile-in-a-bad-mood-type jam on "Barnacle," and even manages to incorporate a short acoustic ballad called "Empty Hole." Then of course the band leans hard into their hip hop roots on songs like "Dad Vibes" and "Goodbye," with the sarcastic-sounding "Turn It Up, Bitch" expertly capturing that scratchy, damaged nü-rap vibe of albums like Significant Other.
Sure, Still Sucks is varied, but it's interesting to hear Limp Bizkit incorporate a handful of new sounds while still sticking to what fans want for the most part. It's an album that manages to capture that classic Limp Bizkit mood without sounding like a bunch of older guys trying to be raucous kids again. The riffs are pummeling, the production sounds great, the band's overall performance is as solid as it's ever been, but it's coming from a place of maturity. Again, it's weird to hear Limp Bizkit not trying to be this boisterous and hard-as-hell, in-your-fucking-face band, but it works.
Where Still Sucks falters is in its use of the 31 minutes it has to captivate listeners. After four killer songs at the start of the record, Limp Bizkit all of a sudden drops into a chill cover of INXS's 1982 track "Don't Change" that eats up three minutes of the album. It's not a bad cover, but combined with the four-plus minutes of the skit-heavy "Snacky Poo" and catchy-but-underwhelming "Empty Hole," it just feels like Limp Bizkit could've used their time much better. Especially after guitarist Wes Borland said in an interview earlier this year that the band "probably have 35 songs recorded instrumentally." Why a cover, a meandering skit, and acoustic ditty were included on Still Sucks is a mystery and one that unfortunately detracts from an album that's otherwise pretty solid.
At the end of the day, Still Sucks feels like a precursor of something better to come. It's a good record with a handful of very good songs, but it feels a little underbaked. Here's hoping we don't have to wait another decade to find out if Limp Bizkit truly does have something even better up their sleeve.
