Fu Manchu
Gigantoid
(At the Dojo)
⋆⋆
The Southern Californian rock slackers Fu Manchu return with their first album in five years. To say the group haven't progressed much is not an affront – like their heroes AC/DC, the group's magic is in taking elementary chord progressions and creating a furious racket. Gigantoid is more of that with a bit of sci-fi lyrical content thrown in. There is definitely a more raw sound here; those cement-heavy riffs are made to pummel rather than excite. Dimension Shifter begins with a slow, buzzing rumble before those riffs explode over Reeder's deadpan delivery. Anxiety Reducer's welcoming boogie-styled riffs are as close as the band get to a strut, while No Warning is an 80-second punk rush. Despite its nine songs and 38-minute running time, Gigantoid truly exhausts towards the end. The album suffers from a severe shortage of hooks, while the dance-groove factor is kept to a minimum. A bit more of that and this spaceship would have truly taken off.
[ sasaeed@thenational.ae ]
