Fu Manchu

Start the Machine (DRT Entertainment)
by Craig Regala

Fu Manchu might get tagged (perennially) with the stoner rock moniker, but so what? Big-ass guitars, meaty classic rocker riffs, punk get-on-with-it attitude, and all that’s cool in the rock and roll world: Aliens, girls, vans, cars, monsters, skating, cars, aliens…

The structure is tightened down, as it has been on the last couple, but the tone is dirtier and a little looser. Scott Hill is singin’ up a storm and the riffs are flyin’. So, like AC/DC, BTO, Ramones, or Motörhead, they do what they do and they do it well, and there’s some variation (as there was with the aforementioned titans), hitting a bit of space in “Out to Sea.” Personally, if you can only buy one of their records, get the double live thing. I mean, “double live,” how could that not be the way to go with these guys?
(www.drt-entertainment.com)