We Must Obey Fu Manchu has been kicking out the jams for the bong and beard nation for more than a decade now and without any real detriment to its creative zeal. We Must Obey’s opening, titular cut swaggers and sways with the ferocity listeners have come to expect. On it, Scott Hill and Bob Balch serve up an enviable riff gauntlet as Hill belts out his trademark dark ‘n’ sexy vocals above the impervious bed of rock beneath. On that track, as with many of the others here–the roundhouse chop of “Knew It All Along,” the thunderous and occasionally disturbing “Hung Out to Dry,” the trailer-house dance anthem “Shake It Loose”–we’re permitted to live in a bygone era, a time when super-sized mirrored sunglasses and dirty, dingy mudflaps reigned supreme–a time when rock ‘n’ roll was about the almighty riff and not the mastery of the almighty pitch correction machine. The retro vibe hovers heavily enough, with authenticity enough, that you believe for a fleeting moment that the group’s primitive but potent sounds comes not from its weighty amplifiers but from some universal force that predates electricity, maybe even man himself.

And maybe it does.

Still, We Must Obey has at least one misstep. “Moving In Stereo,” originally performed by the Cars, feels like an unnecessary plea for radio acceptance but, like a well-done boil lance, it passes quickly and virtually sans pain. Too much of what the quartet has crafted with its own hands deserves its own spot on the FM dial and thus the cover proves superfluous at best and marginally inspired at worst. That said, Fu Manchu has given us a record that we must have and hold, honor, cherish, and, yes, obey. –Jedd Beaudoin
Customer Review: Sensei Vs. Sensei
I’ve always liked Fu Manchu, but I also grew a bit frustrated with their foot-dragging rhythms from time to time. While their plodding, metal is appealing, the group has sometimes struck me (to some degree) as musical underachievers who were capable of much more.

Enter WE MUST OBEY. At first blush, this CD delivers on ALL the potential I’ve noticed in these guys from the start. The songs are memorable, the beats are fresh, the riffs kick, and the lyrics, oh, the lyrics. A sample:

“Sensei versus sensei, my day’s just begun
Sensei versus sensei, tell me… who won?”

Sheer poetry. Nice work, guys.

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