Fu Manchu: Gigantoid (At the Dojo/Southbound)

 |   |  <1 min read

Fu Manchu: The Last Question
Fu Manchu: Gigantoid (At the Dojo/Southbound)

Because Brant Bjork played with them and they're part of the Kyuss/Clutch/Monster Magnet cabal, this Southern California hard rock-stoner band has often been mentioned in dispatches but rarely made an impact here.

That's surprising, given they should appeal to graybeards who loved the feedback rock of Sixties legends Blue Cheer and Australia's Tumbleweed as much as recent QTSA and Wooden Shjips fans.

They come on like a half-track tank, weave in thunderous drums and buzzsaw guitar (Sabbath-heads will recognise the territory being laid waste) yet keep everything economic and white-knuckle while heading for distant landscapes.

As with the best bands working the loud end of off-yer-face rock they have a smart sense of dynamics so just when the migraine is being induced they whip the floor out and nail down some slower groove or more spacious breath-catch.

Check No Warning by way of example: it's furious and has a riff like a chainsaw, a terrific punk hook in the title then space for feedback noise. The eight minute prog-rock Last Question heads to “beyond”.

This can be thrillingly visceral but isn't for everyone (and they do repeat themselves).

However if you don't like the neighbours . . .


Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Various Artists: Good God! Born Again Funk (Numero/Southbound)

Various Artists: Good God! Born Again Funk (Numero/Southbound)

The recent DVD Soundtrack for a Revolution showed how music uplifted the spirits and bonded those in the struggle for civil rights in the US in Sixties. This terrific, funky and soulful... > Read more

Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen on Broadway (Sony)

Bruce Springsteen: Springsteen on Broadway (Sony)

When Bruce Springsteen took up residency at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York for a year of his autobiographical one-man spoken word and song shows, there was unanimous acclaim for it. He... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

HERBS, NEW ZEALAND'S POLITICISED REGGAE REVOLUTION INTO THE HALL OF FAME (2012): Hard tings an' times

HERBS, NEW ZEALAND'S POLITICISED REGGAE REVOLUTION INTO THE HALL OF FAME (2012): Hard tings an' times

When Herbs emerged at the start of the 1980s they were a very different band from the avuncular, mainstream entertainers they became. The original five-piece was managed by the former president... > Read more

Eyolf Dale and Andre Roligheten: Departures (Edition Records/digital outlets)

Eyolf Dale and Andre Roligheten: Departures (Edition Records/digital outlets)

Say “Norwegian jazz” to most and the most immediate response from most would be of emotionally frosty ECM albums and brusque tonality from the saxophone. This established duo... > Read more