Sunday, June 6, 2010

Fu Manchu - California Crossing Demos (Limited Edition Vinyl 12")

For the collectors! Very limited (1000 pressed, only!) edition vinyl 12" pressed on translucent red wax, featuring the complete demos of the famed "California Crossing" album with the Japanese-only bonus track "Planet of the Ape Hangers".


Band Name: Fu Manchu
Label: Fan Club
Release Date: 2010
Media Type: Vinyl 12"

Track List:

  1. Separate Kingdom
  2. California Crossing
  3. Mongoose
  4. Thinkin' Out Loud
  5. Hang On
  6. Wiz Kid
  7. Squash That Fly
  8. Ampn'
  9. Downtown in Dogtwon
  10. Bultaco
  11. Planet of the Ape Hangers
  12. The Wasteoid





Fu Manchu- King Of The Road-lyrics


The Universal Eyes Tell Me Where to Go
White Line Movin' Slow
Million Miles An Hour Headfirst and Alone
All I Got Is Tuck and Roll
All Through My Head
It's Happenin' Over Again
Under Forty Over Is U.f.o.
Hell Bent Stacked in Rows
The Galaxy Is Lined With Hundreds More
Small Town You Bet We're Sure
All Through My Head
It's Happenin' Over Again

As the Day Is Long They Keep Movin' On


Laughin' At the Notion of a Signal Light
Knew We'd Gone Too Far
No One Knew What Happened But It Seemed Alright
We Quickly Jumped in the Car
All Through My Head It's Happenin' Over Again


King of the Road Says You Move Too Slow!

Fu Manchu is a Southern Californian alternative rock/stoner rock band, who released their debut single "Kept Between Trees" in 1990. Fu Manchu's lyrics tend to stick to typical rock themes such as pinball, muscle cars, drugs, women and skateboarding. They have been featured on compilations put together by Tony Hawk and ESPN's X Games, and invited to perform on the US television program Monster Garage. Their music is also featured in the documentary movie about skateboarding's founding crews, Dogtown and Z-Boys. They were also featured in the video game The BIGS 2.

Fu Manchu originally formed in 1987 as a hardcore punk band called Virulence. Their primary influences were the bands Black Flag and Bl'ast. The line up was vocalist Ken Pucci, guitarist Scott Hill, bassist Greg McCaughey, and drummer Ruben Romano. In 1989 they released their debut LP If This Isn't a Dream... on Alchemy Records. In 1990, Pucci left the band and was replaced by vocalist Glenn Chivens, and they changed their name to Fu Manchu. Soon after they released the "Kept Between Trees" 7 inch single on Slap A Ham Records. On this early recording, Fu Manchu still exhibited much of the hardcore sound established by Virulence. However, the band soon began to drift away from hardcore and towards a more 1970s hard rock style. McCaughey was not pleased with this, as he regarded this move to be following a trend; the Seattle grunge phenomenon was breaking out of the underground at this time, and many of these bands were regarded as having a similar 1970s "classic rock" influenced sound. McCaughey was replaced by Mark Abshire. Chivens also left the band around this time for unknown reasons. Rather than search for a new vocalist, Scott Hill added lead vocalist to his guitar duties. To compensate, Scott Votaw was recruited as lead guitarist. In 1992, Fu Manchu released three 7 inch singles: "Senioritis," "Pick Up Summer," and "Don't Bother Knockin' (If This Vans Rockin')". In 1993, Votaw left the band and was replaced by guitarist Eddie Glass, who had previously drummed in Olivelawn.

In the wake of Nirvanas success in the early 1990s, Fu Manchu was approached by a major record label and given funds to record a demo, in an effort to determine if a proper Fu Manchu album was worth pursuing. According to members of Fu Manchu, they recorded the demo with no intention of signing to the label. Instead, their plan was to go into the sessions with the mindset of recording a proper album rather than a demo, which they could then release independently. Sure enough, this is precisely what happened; Fu Manchu did not sign with the label, and the recording sessions would be released as Fu Manchus first album, No One Rides for Free (1994), which was released by Bong Load Custom Records, an independent label.

Abshire left Fu Manchu before they recorded their second album, Daredevil, in 1995. He was replaced by Brad Davis. The band promoted Daredevil with extensive touring throughout the USA and Canada, and reached a wider audience thanks to an opening slot with Monster Magnet, who at the time were the commercial darlings of the stoner rock genre.

Romano and Glass left shortly after the release of Fu Manchu's third album, In Search Of... (1996), citing personal and musical differences with Hill. They were replaced by Brant Bjork and Bob Balch, respectively. Glass, Romano and Abshire soon regrouped to form Nebula, a power trio that took the jam-influenced side of Fu Manchu and expanded on it. Members of Nebula have commented that "we're all family" to fans wearing Fu Manchu shirts at their concerts.

Fu Manchu went on to release several successful albums and reinforce their reputation as a powerful live act. The band had gained this reputation over the years due to their performance when touring with bands such as Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Marilyn Manson, Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and White Zombie, among others.

No comments:

Post a Comment