Fu Manchu Rises Again

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on May 9, 2014 3:00PM

Photo by Andrew Stuart

Aside from a split-single last year, it's been almost five years since we last heard from Fu Manchu. There are lots of bands in the stoner/skater rock genre, but few are as legendary or as consistently satisfying as Fu Manchu. There's something just so basic and rewarding about Scott Hill's vision and riffs; it's like the metal version of comfort food.

The band finally returns with a new full-length album, Gigantoid, and proves that they're still charging along at full power. The current line-up recorded 17 songs for the new album, but only nine made it onto Gigantoid, but luckily for us the rest of those tracks should see the light of day later this year when the band releases them as a follow-up.

The whole album clocks in at under 35 minutes, proving that Fu Manchu has learned the value of economy in their songwriting, and pack every second of every song with exactly what it needs. That doesn't come at the expense of great soloing or riffs getting short shrift, it just means the band has learned how to wring an epic sound while knowing how best to edit themselves. And honestly, after almost 25 years together this approach is a little surprising, since many of their peers depend on stretching things out until they get flabby in order to hide a paucity of ideas. But Fu Manchu has faith in their vision and fearlessly execute it, trimming the flab and building up the muscle.

The band is in town this weekend and we highly recommend catching them since we have never been disappointed by their live sets over the years. Stream (or buy) Gigantoid below for a taste of what to expect.

Fu Manchu plays with Electric Citizen and Rollo Tomasi on Saturday, May 10, at Subterranean, 2011 W. North Ave., 8 p.m., $13 advance / $15 door, 21+