**1/2 Fu Manchu

KING OF THE ROAD

(Mammoth)

This Cali quartet's style has been called "van rock" since the band's inception in the mid '90s, and King of the Road is bound to reinforce that notion -- maybe, for better or worse, to the point of caricature. Fu Manchu apparently aren't too concerned: more than half the disc's song titles and lyrics (and practically every riff, thud, and phrase) tip the hat to Camaros, CBs, choppers, and Custom Vans. Not that there's anything wrong with that -- hell, Mammoth's not just Fu Manchu's label, it's their sound, man. It's the look of the film Dazed & Confused distilled through killer bong hits and bottomless kegs and carefully laid upon the well-preserved skeletons of Black Sabbath's 1970 debut and Deep Purple's Machine Head. Vintage gear (yeah, those are real Crybaby and Big Muff pedals, bro!) gives the 11-track set undeniable authenticity. But the real kicker is how the Fus subversively betray their appreciation of new wave with a version of Devo's "Freedom of Choice" only Cheech and Chong could love.

-- Mark Woodlief