On the Mount Rushmore of stoner rock, Fu Manchu proudly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Kyuss, Yawning Man and Monster Magnet. Since their inception in 1987 they have steadfastly stuck to their guns, releasing album after album of fuzzed-out metal worship. Gigantoid is their eleventh album and it finds the California natives feeling gutsier and grittier than ever.
One of Fu Manchu's great charms is that you know exactly what you're getting when you pop in one of their records – an intoxicating brew of skyscraper riffs, psychedelic grooves, and dirty old biker rock. Gigantoid does little to shake up that formula, but when you're so good at it, why change?
Thick, crusty guitars are the order of the day and they dominate every single song. Tracks like 'Anxiety Reducer' and 'Triplanetary' were designed to make hair fly about and horns get raised in defiance. Scott Hill's vocals are one of those things that you either love or hate. Music this meaty and uncompromising requires a bit more of a brutish touch than you'll get in your garden variety garage band. There are no heart-warming ballads, no quirky dance numbers, and no hip genre dalliances to soften the blow. Fu Manchu only know how to be heavy and Gigantoid is yet further proof of that truth.
