New Fu Manchu Album To Be Released October 20th

Some great news. Fu Manchu's new album "Signs of Infinite Power" is set to be released October 20th. These guys are the kings of stoner metal...nothing better since Kyuss, in my opinion. They also have a very Black Flag-esque punk edge and a love for the euphoria of The Stooges embedded deep into their sound. The release of this album marks the bands 20th anniversary. I have heard very little music from this album, but it has gotten great advance reviews. Can't wait to pick it up. To read more, click here.

Here's a thirty second preview track. That's all that's available for now. A full review will come after I hear the whole thing. What I hear sounds great.

FU MANCHU: DAREDEVIL

Fu Manchu are a band I've written a few posts about here before, I know. The thing is, they are such a great, solid, retro 1970's metal band that continues to put out always enjoyable material. Today I want to talk about what is their strongest, most energetic full length album, in my opinion. It is 1995's "Daredevil". This is Fu Manchu at their finest. The guitars are not so fuzzed out and low-ended as on "Godzilla's (Eatin Dust)", and not as straight ahead, overwhelming, beyond Kyuss- heavy, balls to the wall stoner metal as on "The Action Is Go". 'Daredevil" is pure, raw, ingenius, high octane, classic 1970's psych metal with a fuzzed out punk tinge. This is the album where Fu Manchu was really coming into focus. It is like a witches brew of The Stooges, Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and touches of Hawkwind all at their finest moments. The songs are relentless, the most energetic Fu Manchu ever, loaded with classic touches of spaciness. One reason for this is that the two founding members of the mindbending, euphoric retro/space/psych rock band Nebula played on this album. They were Eddie Glass on guitar and Ruben Romano on drums. After "Daredevil", they would split to form Nebula. Arguably, Nebula's output over the years has been much stronger than Fu Manchu's, but that's for another day. What else to say here...the lyrics are at their peak...sometimes unintelligible, warped, drug induced tales that always entertain. Every track is great. Play it loud, annoy, the neighbors, and long live Fu Manchu! I wonder if they are working on a new album...

VOID: DEHUMANIZED

Void is an intensely heavy punk band formed in 1979. Their sound is high speed, high octane, violently aggressive punk and hardcore. They remind me of an even heavier Black Flag spinning wildly out of control. The atonal guitar solos are reminiscent of Greg Ginn's guitar playing from Black Flag as well. Give the song "Dehumanized" a listen...it is a short, unsettling burst of energy, and one of my favorite punk songs. It was released in 1982 on the Dischord Records compilation album "Flex Your Head". Enjoy.

THE DESCENDENTS: SOMERY

The Desendents are a highly addictive band that perfectly bridges the gap between punk, hardcore, and power pop. Their songs are full of teen angst and are about lost women, failed relationships, the quest for fast food, caffeine, satisfaction and happiness, the never-ending quest for that which can not be obtained, the quest for "All"....the relentless quest for happiness and perfection that drives their music and ties of all of their material together. This quest for 'All' gives their music a dark edge, because as we all know, complete happiness can never be attained. The Descendents' music is joyfully mindless yet equally and immediately emotive, powerful and full of harmonies and hooks that make you want to keep coming back for more.

My favorite Descendents album is "Somery"(1991). It is a collection of material from all of their 1980's releases. Milo's vocals are sorrowful, yet happy and inspiring. The guitar work of Frank Navetta is top notch...pleasant to listen to yet devastating. The rhythm section of Tony Lombardo on bass and Bill Stevenson on drums is grimy and relentless...like a tighter, leaner, and meaner Black Flag. I cannot express my love for this band and this album enough. I first heard The Descendents when I turned 18 and was entering college. These songs have stuck with me since then. The Descendents have gotten me through tough times, happy times, and all of the mediocre times between and are still getting me through life some seventeen years later. It's hard to name some favorite tracks, but "Silly Girl", "Coolidge", "Clean Sheets", "Sour Grapes" and "I Like Food" come immediately to mind.

Just give these guys a listen. I'm sure you will like them. Over the past several years they have been popping up with a new album every now and then. A new Descendents release is always a treat. I don't know what their status is as of now. Their guitarist Frank Navetta passed away late last year from a pre-existing heart condition. Singer Milo is a bio-chemist, and the others are staying busy with various side projects. Will there be more Descendents in the future? No one knows, and it doesn't matter because "Somery" is such a strong compilation that it is all you really need.

These guys are so influential that it is hard to believe. If you listen to Green Day and some of the other power pop/punk bands that are around today, ask yourself a question. Who do they sound like? Where did they get that riff, those harmonies? You know what the answer is going to be...

Anyway, here's some of my favorite tracks from the exhaustive 29 track "Somery".

Silly girl - Descendents

coolidge - descendents

I LIke Food - Descendents

ORNETTE COLEMAN'S "FREE JAZZ"

Ornette Coleman's 1960 masterpiece "Free Jazz" is a startlingly innovative jazz album. It features two jazz quartets playing at the same time, improvising, and playing off of each other. The album consists of one song, clocking in at around forty minutes. On first listen, it is highly chaotic, but on repeated listenings it is frighteningly beautiful. Out of the chaos comes a beautiful, natural order as you listen to the instruments playing off of each other, and the solos are incredible. There is an organic sense of melody that holds everything together. You hear something different every time you listen to it. In a way, "Free Jazz" reminds me of the action painting and abstract expressionism of the work of Jackson Pollack. In fact, one of his paintings are featured on the cover. Highly recommended, for the adventurous music listener only.

I'm a huge fan of Ornette Coleman's work. All of his albums are beautiful and challenging. His music is harmolodic, a phrase he coined himself. It goes against traditional scales and key signatures. You play what you feel and hear, and out of the chaos comes order. A modern day example of this would be the adventurous, difficult to replicate guitar playing of Greg Ginn from Black Flag.

Here is a ten minute excerpt from "Free Jazz". Enjoy.

BLACK FLAG: "IN MY HEAD"

Black Flag's "In my Head"(1985). This is one of Black Flag's strangest yet most accessible albums ever made, and one of my personal favorites of theirs. Departing from the sludgy experimentalism of some of their previous releases, Black Flag finds a more tuneful, yet still ground breaking sound on "In My Head". The grooves are bizarre, slippery, and snake-like and the music is heavy with a grimy vibe throughout. Greg Ginn's harmolodic, almost atonal guitar work is in top form laying down impossible to replicate, somewhat disorienting guitar work over the slippery and grungy bass playing of Kira that really carries the music along. Also present is the solid and distinctive drum work of Bill Stevenson. Henry Rollin's vocals are slightly more laid back than usual yet still in top form. The production on "In My Head" is not great, but it fits the music perfectly. Some of my favorite tracks are "Paralyzed", "White Hot", and "I Can See You". Next to "Damaged", this is THE Black Flag album you must have.

Here's "White Hot" and "Paralyzed". Enjoy

White Hot - Black Flag

Paralyzed - Black Flag

FANG

Fang were a heavy, sleazy, joyfully obnoxious yet highly addictive punk band that came out around 1982. With the sneering vocals of Sam McBride, politically incorrect lyrics in songs like "Destroy the Handicapped", a snotty, disdainful attitude, and a grungy Black Flag tinged guitar sound, Fang was an intimidating force when they were in their prime. Their best two albums are "Landshark"(1982) and "Where the Wild Things Are"(1983), which you can buy together on one CD. "Landshark" is the catchier and more wide ranging of the two. With the slimy groove of the title track "The Money Will Roll Right In", to the feed back laden "Law and Order", to the Venom-esque metal anthem "Diary of a Mad Werewolf", to the classic psychedelic anthem "Fun With Acid", 'Landshark" will not disappoint. "Where the Wild Things Are" is more straight forward hardcore. They sacrifice most of their melody and inventiveness for pure speed, vindictiveness, and shock value. Still, it is a good listen.

Here's "The Money Will Roll Right In"...

The Money Will Roll Right In - Fang

...and here's "Fun With Acid'. Enjoy!