Fu Manchu

Southern California stoner rock unit Fu Manchu inhabits a distinctive realm shaped by thick, gritty guitar riffs, classic muscle cars, and an aura of 1970s-era swagger that evokes a more irreverent and male-oriented take on Dazed and Confused. Fronted by guitarist and vocalist Scott Hill, the only unchanging presence across the band's history, their music carries greater energy and confidence than much of the stoner-rock crowd, with a subtler emphasis on cannabis, even as their fixation on engines, classic metal, and bold, straightforward guitar lines places them squarely inside the genre. After launching their recorded career via 1994's No One Rides for Free, the group found its footing across the studio efforts The Action Is Go in 1997, King of the Road in 2000, and California Crossing in 2001, releases that crystallized their signature approach. Although new material appeared less frequently during the 2000s, Clone of the Universe in 2018 and The Return of Tomorrow in 2024 confirmed the outfit's ongoing commitment to its audience once it established its own imprint.

The band originated from West Coast hardcore act Virulence, formed in 1985 and responsible for the 1989 album If This Isn't a Dream …. Its closing roster featured vocalist Ken Pucci, guitarist Scott Hill, bassist Greg McCaughey, and drummer Ruben Romano. When Pucci departed in 1990, Glenn Chivens stepped in as singer, a shift that aligned with a change in musical focus. After adopting the Fu Manchu name, the group issued the Slap-A-Ham Records single "Kept Between Trees" that same year; soon afterward McCaughey exited and Mark Abshire took over on bass, while Chivens also left, prompting Hill to assume lead vocal duties alongside guitar. With Scott Votaw joining on guitar the lineup stabilized as a quartet, leading to three independent singles between 1992 and 1993. Eddie Glass replaced Votaw in time for the Bong Load Custom debut album No One Rides for Free in 1994. The follow-up Daredevil arrived in 1995 and marked the arrival of bassist Brad Davis in place of Abshire. Extensive touring behind that record, including support slots for Monster Magnet, broadened the band's reach.

In Search Of …, released in 1996, became Fu Manchu's first Mammoth Records album and their final outing with Glass and Romano, who joined former member Abshire in the new group Nebula. The arrival of guitarist Bob Balch and drummer Brant Bjork completed the next configuration, whose initial release, The Action Is Go in 1997, earned praise as an artistic advance. Man's Ruin Records later assembled the out-of-print EPs into the 1999 collection (Godzilla's) Eatin' Dust, after which King of the Road appeared in 2000. California Crossing in 2001 closed Bjork's tenure, after which Scott Reeder (distinct from the bassist of the same name who worked with Kyuss and Unida) joined on drums, locking in the longest-running and most enduring lineup. Following the departure from Mammoth, the band worked with DRT Entertainment on 2004's Start the Machine before moving to Century Media for We Must Obey in 2007. After Signs of Infinite Power in 2009 the group left Century Media; Reeder then took a temporary role with Social Distortion on their 2010 tour.

Four years passed before the next album, Gigantoid, emerged in 2014 as the first release on the band's At the Dojo label. The imprint issued Clone of the Universe four years later, and in 2019 Roadburn released the archival Live at Roadburn 2003 documenting the Dutch festival set. At the Dojo delivered the double album The Return of Tomorrow in March 2024, its thirteen tracks split between seven aggressive, fuzz-heavy numbers and six slower pieces bearing psychedelic influences.