"You're fucked up baby, your eyes like glass. Your mind's like a beer bottle filled with butts."
Fu Manchu's sound could only have come from California; the epitome of fuzzed out, laid back stoner riffs, which manage to still be aggressive, or at least energetic. They make the perfect soundtrack for driving down a desert highway one of the few bands with a sound so uniquely their own, that they completely transform a cover song simply by playing it.
The band was formed from the remains hardcore punk band Virulence; guitarist Scott Hill, bassist Mark Abshire and drummer Ruben Romano had previous gone through several front men before Glenn Chivens joined and they changed their name to Fu Manchu.
After Chivens' departure, guitarist Scott Hill took over as vocalist and added a second guitarist Scott Votaw to play leads.
Taking inspiration from local heroes Black Flag (Hill is one of the few guitarists to use Greg Ginn's favored Dan Armstrong lucite guitars) and Bl'ast (whose name and song titles are often referenced in Fu songs) but also by 70's rock and Sabbath, Scott's vintage Univox Superfuzz and lyrics inspired by the 1977 teen sex comedy "The Van," the band forged their unique style.
Much of the early material from the first 3 Fu Manchu singles are available on the "Return To Earth 91-93," comp released on CD in 1998.
After Votaw left, the band cemented their line-up with lead guitarist Eddie Glass.
The Hill/Glass/Abshire/Romano line-up recorded just one album before Mark Abshire left (he had left Virulence once already and returned) and Brad Davis filled the bass player slot, playing on every record since.
The next major line-up change was when Eddie Glass and Ruben Romano left the band in 1997 to re-unite with Mark Abshire as the power trio, Nebula. Bob Balch stepped in on lead guitar duties with Kyuss' Brant Bjork on drums.
This line-up continued until drummer Scott Reeder replaced Bjork in the line-up that continues to this day.
L to R Scott Hill, Brad Davis, Ruben Romano, Eddie Glass
L to R Davis,Bjork, Balch, Hill
Bob Balch, Scott Hill
Bob Balch
No One Rides For Free (1994)
Recorded with an advance they were given to produce a "demo," for a major label, the band decided to record their debut album, knowing that the label would reject it and released the album on indy label "Bong Load Custom." It is a landmark in desert stoner sludge. Scott Hill's trademark vocals; a laid back, almost spoken style with a slightly sleazy quality, that never takes the "chick," part of the chicks and cars formula any further than asking if they want a ride in his "shaggin' wagon."
"Ojo Rojo," delivers the classic line, "She wanted nothing and I delivered." The overlooked van anthem (vanthem?) "Time To Fly," makes sure to mention, "it's got a teardrop ..." Beautiful!
The two I just mentioned and "Super Bird,' are probably the highlights but the whole thing is good.
The only glaring exception is a song I've always wondered about: "Summer Girls (Free and Easy)" a bizarre attempt at a ballad? A joke? I dunno but it comes up on ipod shuffle every so often and is astoundingly bad. It reminds me of the NOFX song "Together on The Sand," except not funny and with worse singing. It is unique within the Fu catalogue. Still their first record is one of their best.
Daredevil (1995)
After a stellar debut, the band continued to hit their stride, with this great album. It has a slightly less sludgy shade of fuzz and incorporates additional percussion (think cowbell) for even more groove. It's like Black Sabbath meets "Lowrider." The riffs are monumentally huge and even though I have no idea what the lyrics to "Trapeze Freak," "Travel Agent," or "Sleestak," refer to ("Spiral Architect," and "A National Acrobat," are sort of in the same category for me) they are irresistible headbanging material. Actually more of a THC induced head-nodding but whatevs. Of all the bands given the annoying label of "stoner rock," Fu Manchu establish themselves as the most fun to get stoned and listen to.
This is the second and last "Bong Load Custom," release before moving to Mammoth records. It's unfortunately a bit difficult to track down, much like "No One Rides For Free." Thank God for the internet cause these are two absolutely essential Fu Manchu records.
In Search Of... (1996)
I'm not sure why I've always had the impression that this record was somehow vastly inferior to "Daredevil." Honestly, there aren't as many stand-out tracks for me, but it's still damn good. The fuzz hits a "Master of Reality," level and Eddie Glass really goes to town on his final album appearance, his lazy wah-wah heavy leads suddenly kicked into overdrive. The spacey vibes of "Neptune's Convoy," can likely be attributed to Glass as well, being consistent thematically with his next band, "Nebula." "Regal Beagle," "Asphalt Risin'," and "The Falcon Has Landed," are all highlights of, probably the heaviest Fu Manchu record of all time.
The Action Is Go (1997)
Somehow released right on the heels of the previous album, even after replacing guitarist Eddie Glass with Bob Balch and with Brant Bjork (producer of their first album and former member of Kyuss) taking over cowbell duties from Ruben Romano. The huge personnel changes are nullified by incredible momentum and, based entirely on it's own merits, it's arguably as good as "Daredevil,"although it may begin to feel repetitive to the casual listener.
Closer content-wise to "Daredevil," with lots of faster numbers and killer grooves. "Urethane," "Evil Eye," "Anodizer,"and "Laserbl'ast," all make my best-of list don't miss a beat, serving up killer skating/desert driving anthems. I would put this record on par with the first two, depending on mood.
So, "Eatin' Dust," was originally put out as a 10" on Frank Kozik's now-defunct "Man's Ruin," label. It was later re-released on CD with the 10" "Godzilla," and re-titled "Godzilla's Eatin' Dust."
Really there are a few things working against this one - the different releases, labels, track listings; I think of this one more like an EP, since it only has 5 songs and was a 10".
For some reason some other dude plays guitar on the "Godzilla," record, which consists of 2 originals and a cover of the BOC song, which is okay.
The highlight of any version of this release is "Mongoose," possibly the best song the band ever recorded (easily top 3 at the very least.) Don't bother with the easier to find re-recorded version of the song on "California Crossing." The rest of it sounds is not necessarily "A," material
King of The Road (2000)
Side one of this record features some of the band's best material, maybe of all time; "Hell on Wheels," and "King of The Road," are absolute ass-kickers. "Boogie Van," could be called the perfect Fu Manchu song. Unfortunately it runs out of momentum a bit on side two, which is hit or miss. As a bonus Devo's "Freedom of Choice," is given the Fu treatment. I'll put up side one of this one against anything in their catalogue. This could be considered the last of a string of classic recordings, starting with the first, and skipping over the less essential "Eatin' Dust."/"Godzilla."
California Crossing (2001)
This record was a mistake for the band and has since been acknowledged as such. It was intended to be a more commercial sounding record in an effort to appeal to the dreaded "wider audience." So we have a much clearer guitar sound - the mountain of sludge is absent, and the leads are more prominent. Scott makes the attempt to sing and the choruses are more defined. You hear most of the traditional elements of the sound and then pop hooks jump out of nowhere. The band butchers "Mongoose," as far as I'm concerned, unnecessarily re-recording it with the type of slick backing vocals that record companies think everyone wants to hear. It doesn't work and sounds like pop garbage. Leave the pop sound to bands like the Descendents who make it work. Fu Manchu is not about that (this has since been made abundantly clear in the years since the album's mixed reception.)
Highlights "California Crossing," "Hang On," and "Squash That Fly," (which seems to share the same riff with "Amp-n," which makes it peculiar to sequence them back to back) come off sounding a lot better on their "Go For It Live,"record, which I recommend. It's a also a weird choice to throw a drum-solo on the last song if you ask me but I guess it's appropriate as a farewell to Brant Bjork on his final recording with the band .
Start the Machine (2004)
I always had the impression that this record is the totally boring Fu album; the cover is generic and so is the title (unless you can appreciate the Bl'ast reference.) What it really is, is an album with an identity crisis. Scott Hill has stopped writing about chicks, cars and skating for some reason and the songs now don't really seem to be about anything. I realize none of these are very deep subjects and lyrics on previous albums made very little sense to begin with, but
although on subsequent listens, it's actually a lot better than I remember I still instantly forget any lyrics or song titles and it's just not very fun to listen to.
"Written In Stone," is the best of the bunch, "Make Them Believe," and "Understand," are catchy enough. "Hey," (that's the actual title) is pretty good too. The songs are back to a "no-bullshit," approach, following their experimentation on "California Crossing,"except
"Out To Sea," which is sort of a mellow, surfy instrumental that's not bad. My opinion of this record improves a little with every listen but, honestly if I look at the track listing, I still can't remember what any of these songs sound like.
Scott Reeder's first outing on drums and the only release on "DRT Records," which went tits-up shortly after.
We Must Obey (2007)
The title track really sounds like their triumphant return to past glory and, while the the overall quality is better than "Start The Machine," the rest sounds a bit like filler. The cover of
The Cars "Moving In Stereo," and "Sensei Vs. Sensei," stand out but "Between The Lines," "Never Again," "Didn't Really Try," sound uninspired. Bob Balch still keeps it interesting with some cool guitar lines. This was the sole release on yet another label, "Liquor and Poker."
Signs of Infinite Power (2009)
By the time I was finished listening to "We Must Obey," I though I might have been going through Fu Manchu fatigue or something, which had unfairly affected my ability to appreciate that record.
Not so, apparently, because I put this, their latest album on the stereo and immediately felt the need to turn the volume up. Whereas, "Obey," had one really good tune and a bunch of mediocre ones, I can't really pick a standout track here because they're all good.
Coincidentally, there's also the welcome return of unusual song titles - I have no idea what "Webfoot Witch Hat," or "El Busta" are about but they're hell of a lot more memorable, especially since they're attached to songs you'll walk away humming along to. "Steel Beast Defeated," is another highlight for me
The title track again is good... "Gargantuan March," really gets the "head-nod," happening.
It might actually be the best thing they're done since "King of The Road."
Hall of Total Bullshit - "Auto-Tune" 
