- advertisement -

FU MANCHU
Clone Of The Universe
At The Dojo Records

With over thirty years of fuzzy-sounding stoner rock odes to funky-looking 70’s panel vans, muscle cars, UFO’s, video games and other topics stemming from lots of introspective bong hits over the years, legendary southern California rockers FU MANCHU are taking the next step in their career with their 12th album Clone Of The Universe. From straight-ahead downtuned power chord riffing and crashing rhythm sections, the lineup of Scott Hill (vocals, guitar), Bob Balch (guitars), Brad Davis (bass) and Scott Reeder (drums and percussion) have gone a new world beyond. Bypassing the major labels, Clone is the first FU MANCHU album to be released on the band’s own label At The Dojo. And the band have also made a few changes to their sound, but only for the greater common good as their fuzz/wah sound has now made room for some faster punk/garage elements such as “Don’t Panic” and “Intelligent Worship” with completely unique time changes.

But the biggest notable change in FU MANCHU’s musical aspirations on their new album? An 18-minute eight-second opus of a jam titled “Il Mostro Atomico” which is played in four different sections and features the mammoth fret work of Alex Lifeson of RUSH who does a solo battle midway with Hill and Balch and is almost schooling them by the climax. Ambitious, given that he hasn’t played on such a lengthy composition since maybe “The Temples Of Syrinx”. That said, FU MANCHU showcased how far they’ve come in their interplanetary field with Clone Of The Universe and they’ll be setting many phasers on stun with this release.

Speaking of going universal, the band will be playing 2 album release shows in Southern California before hitting the road in Europe in March of 2018 and returning to the US in May of 2018. Additional 2018 shows will be announced in the coming months. Call all of your occupants on their interplanetary crafts to get space truckin’ to this tour!

4.5 Out Of 5.0

https://www.facebook.com/FuManchuBand