Kyuss - And The Circus Leaves Town

YOURZ

Oh, wait until Mine gets a load of this.  I think her head is gonna explode all over the windscreen hahahahahahaha... (not that her head exploding is a funny thing, mind you).  Anyway...

If it weren't for Kyuss, we might not have Queens Of The Stoneage, Mondo Generator, Eagles Of Death Metal, Fu Manchu and Them Crooked Vultures, to name of the biggies.  Hailing from Palm Desert in southern California, Kyuss made a name for themselves playing heavy, distorted and groove-laden songs, and featured future QOTSA members Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri.

Throughout their short-lived career, the band seemed to be in a constant state of change, before finally calling it quits shortly after releasing And The Circus Leaves Town.  Of all their albums, this is most certainly my personal favourite and the only one currently residing in our collection (mainly because Blues For The Red Sun and Welcome To Sky Valley both walked out of my house at some stage).  The rest, as they (whoever they are) say, is future history.

If you're a fan, you'll know all about this album.  If you're not but want to be, then this is as good a place to start as any (in fact, it probably is the best place to start, as far as I'm concerned).

VERDICT: TURN IT UP

MINE

What, another Led Zeppelin tribute album?  (YourZ sez: I beg to differ - this is stoner rock at its finest!  Led Zep were never as sludgy as this)  How do these bands get record deals, anyway?  Oh, that's right, the recording industry is full of never-grew-up testosterone. *sigh*

VERDICT:THROW IT OUT

For more information: http://www.myspace.com/kyussmyspace

Fu Manchu - In Search Of

YOURZ

Let's talk about ‘boy’ music, which, according to Mine, is exemplified by Fu Manchu. According to her, ‘boy’ music is big, dumb and loud, the sort of music where the lyrics don’t have much value apart from separating the riffage from the lead breaks. I can’t deny she's pretty much described this Californian quartet perfectly but why she sees this as a bad thing is beyond me.

With 1996’s In Search Of…, Fu Manchu’s manifesto continued to be about the important things in life – skating, fast cars, faster girls and substance-fuelled good times. And the formula must be a good one because they are still at it, having released their tenth studio album, Signs Of Infinite Power, late in 2009.

I was introduced to this band sometime in the mid-90’s. My memories of this period are somewhat hazy but I do remember hanging out at a friend’s place, smoking ridiculous amounts of pot and listening to lots of music, including Fu Manchu. But don’t ask me which album or even which songs. All I remember is stoner rock never sounded better. It still doesn’t.

These days, listening to this music only serves to remind me of how much I’ve forgotten. But man, we had a great time regardless.

VERDICT: TURN IT UP, dude and pass the bong...


MINE

Why bother? That's my first reaction listening to Fu Manchu and it hasn't worn off some days later. I mean, if I wanted to listen to Deep Purple or Black Sabbath circa 1975 or thereabouts, I would.

Not that I would, mind you. I spent entirely too much of the mid-70s listening to those bands because my girlfriends had older brothers who we wanted to hang around with - who wouldn't relinquish stereo rights. So listening to Fu Manchu just made me feel spotty and anxious. And like I wanted a menthol cigarette and to talk on the phone a lot.

But mostly I felt - bored. I mean, why do a bunch of Californian stoner boys want to make music like Thin Lizzy? Their mix is what YourZ calls "lo-fi" and I call "bad" - I can't understand more than about three words in any song because the vocals are buried. No, if I want to hear this sort of music made relevant for the 2000s I'll choose Wolfmother, thank you very much.

VERDICT: THROW IT OUT


For more infornation: http://www.fu-manchu.com/

In our collection, we also have The Action Is Go, King Of The Road, Start The Machine and Signs Of Infinite Power