Fu Manchu
King of the Road

THE REVIEW

Premise 1: how much time wasted in the '90s chasing after Grunge and its unbearable "mainstream" drift (curse you, you tricked me!). I missed the whole Stoner movement when it happened. I discovered it 15 years later! And to think Diego made me a Kyuss tape right away…

Premise 2: this is the review of a performance-enhancing substance under investigation by Wada (tiny.cc/68ugnz). Indispensable sports doping for me who, at almost 50 years old, finds himself running along the town's bike path playing Air Guitar.

Fu Manchu - King of The Road (2000).

Ok, Super Fuzz and Wah Wah on, Bottleneck in the pocket. Big Muff hooked to the bass. Drum heads tightened and sticks at the ready. 1-2-3-4!

I could stop here.

But instead, let me tell you about the guys who grew up in San Clemente, Southern California.

They face the ocean of "Big Wednesday" with Bear’s surfboards loaded on the Volkswagen vans.

They grew up on slices of bread slathered with a finger of peanut butter, watching films by Roger Corman and George A. Romero.

In the kitchen, in the background, Starsky & Hutch and the theme of the James Taylor Quartet hummed from memory. In the living room, their ex-hippie dad often spun the James Gang, "Funk #49."

Guys who busted their knees jumping in construction sites with BMXs, scraped their elbows falling off skateboards, and got blisters from pinball and Space Invaders.

Then college time came (compromising photos of Scott Hill with an acoustic guitar circulate on the web) and the discovery of Californian Hardcore Punk. As soon as they got their driving license, they peeled out in an IN-N-OUT parking lot!

Now try getting up on stage to tell this story: Fu Manchu have no rivals and they play it every time in the best way!