FU MANCHU
Originally formed in 1985 as a Black Flag-influenced hardcore punk band called Virulence, FU MANCHU has since become one of hard rock's most celebrated names. The band released its first single "Kept Between Trees" in 1990 and in the years following, helped give rise to a celebrated style of heavy music tagged "stoner rock" alongside peers such as Kyuss, Monster Magnet and Sleep. Since its inception, the quartet has built itself a fanatical army of loyal enthusiasts all drawn to the group's ridiculously catchy, unpretentious music, guitar-driven sound and carefree lyrics centered on "old muscle cars, choppers, vans, skateboarding and science fiction". The electrifying group will drop its new album Signs of Infinite Power this October via Century Media Records. If life is a highway, FU MANCHU is its soundtrack.
Although FU MANCHU's alumni include such decorated names as Brant Bjork (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age), the group's lineup has been rock-solid since the addition of drummer Scott Reeder. If you're craving a fix of unpretentious, classic hard rock in its most timeless form, look no further than FU MANCHU, whose music the L.A. Weekly once called "as purely Californian as anything Brian Wilson (Beach Boy's) ever recorded." England's NME did that one better, saying that "the secret of FU MANCHU's sick genius is that they're writing the soundtrack for the ultimate, neverending, coast-to-coast, psychotic American rock n' roll road movie."