It’s been 13 years since their debut album, and it’s time to acknowledge that Fu Manchu are probably the Motorhead of stoner rock; a band which belongs to that exalted circle of acts that can release essentially similar-sounding albums for decades on end without growing stale or tedious. If anything, ‘We Must Obey’ is more engaged-sounding and riff-packed than its predecessor, ‘Start The Machine’ (2004). The fuzzed-out, 70s-worshipping riffs and grooves come blasting out of the speaker with the rambunctious title track, picking right up where they left off the last time around, pausing only for the requisite preparations: pulling on those bell-bottoms, lighting that bong, revving up that van and hitting that highway.

That frenetic energy continues on songs like ‘Knew It All Along’ and ‘Shake It Loose’, complete with rowdy, simplistic sing-along refrains and some really hi-octane drumming. The more deliberate ‘Hung Out Dry, ’ ‘Land Of Giants’ and ‘Lesson’ slip into a plodding vibe that is just as compelling and infectious. ‘Moving In Stereo’ is a song by The Cars, suitably tooled-up to fit in with the stonerrific proceedings under way. The album closer, ‘Sensei Vs. Sensei’ is a spectacularly drawn-out, fuzzy B-movie-inspired extravaganza, striking just the right note of epic goofiness to close out the album, and the trip.

What Fu Manchu have here is something of a coup - they've fulfilled any odds of untapped potential one might sensed on solid but ever so workmanlike releases like 'The Action Is Go', and the result is a stoner classic that should allow you to finally retire that copy of Outsideinside. It's certainly one of the finest releases of its kind this year and a great companion piece to the new Clutch on that fancy new 7-CD changer I know you bought instead of filing your tax return.

Label: Liquor And Poker Music

Year of Release: 2007