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The debut of Fu Manchu (year of Brant Bjork 1994) is a service station on some sunny California highway, where the '70s rock of Blue Cheer, Lynyrd Skynyrd and company can fill up on Big Muff, load their trunk with watts, and tuck themselves under the hood of six-thousand-cylinder amps.
Scott Hill (guitar and vocals), Edward Glass (lead guitar, later in Nebula), Ruben Romano (drums, later in Nebula), and Mark Abshire (bass, later in Nebula), however, pump gas their way. So much so that in their case, the very label "stoner" can be misleading.
Did Kyuss have the dust of Palm Desert? Fu Manchu has the beaches of San Clemente ("a Spanish village by the sea", as the official site of the town says). Did Kyuss have drugs? Fu Manchu has babes. Did Kyuss fry their brains in the desert sun? Fu Manchu brought out the suntan oil and Hawaiian shirts. It's not that one is necessarily better than the other: they're just two different ways of interpreting rock 'n' roll.
At our station, it's unlikely to spot Iommi or Butler getting an oil check (with the only exception, perhaps, of the opening of "Mega-Bumpers"). It's much more likely to share the checkout line with the spirit of the left-handed guy from Seattle (the one good at playing), appearing in the form of monumental distortions ("Snakebellies"), vacationing with graceful southern diversions during the solo phase ("Ojo Rojo" rulez!). Simple riffs, pachydermic rhythms kept between the ears to shake them like a Coca Cola while headbanging ("Superbird"), fill-in of guitaristic trumpeting ("Ojo Rojo"), a vocal delivery that is the epitome of slacker attitude, and an acoustic-beach ballad to play on the beach at sunset, thinking of a girl with a floss bikini who stole your heart ("Free and Easy").
"No One Rides For Free" is all this: it is music for hanging tough guys with the window down and the stereo blasting. It's music to listen to while pulling down the panties of the summer girl of the moment with your teeth. It's music to slot into the tape deck as you launch your Cadillac on an equator of asphalt cutting through the desert, heading towards a sun yellow and huge as the entire horizon...
...Go with the Fu!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Ojo Rojo (03:49)
She wanted nothing! and I delivered! *(the best lyric!)
drawin aces.. down the river
my car.. I could give her
shine that, back down the river
man of leisure 'round town
dull nova, primed and brown
smoke's coming out of the back
wish I had.. my cadillac
I revved it up.. hundered and one..
KANSAS CITY.. HERE I COME!
The meter said one nintey five
HEY LADIES! WANT A RIDE?
WANT A RIDE?
WANT A RIDE?
04 Mega-Bumpers (03:51)
Oh mona sue what can you do?
sharin it around
swingin like Issac from a ship to shore
ladies coming down
way more than ive ever seen
you know what i mean?
more than a pound to go around
bringin them to their knees
Over my head through my back
five car lengths is where your at
Throwin snake eyes from a hand in the back
white knucklin round
captain lightfoot dancin up a storm
coming back for more
Bobby drivin a round a round
a race is going down
sudden flash across the night
outta sight
Over my head through my back
five car lengths is where your at
Hittin the road I see you all the way back
Hey I seen you around
Shiny blue camaro sitting in my path
chumps going down
06 Superbird (04:05)
Took my Superbird
Down to the track
Saw a Camaro
Pull in the stacks
Flag went down
Hear the rubber burn
Lucky shift
Got me in the turn
Must have been ridin
With lady luck
Flipping his wig
His gears are stuck
The Camaro..
so far behind
I'm out of gear
Coasting to the line!
SOLID!
Foot off the gas
A man alive
I shoved it down in
To overdrive
I pulled away
I'm feeling fine
Superbird screaming
Anytime
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