California stoner rockers FU MANCHU are one of the genre’s pioneers with their fuzz-drenched, feel-good sound spilling out over the course of what will now be 12 studio albums once Clone of the Universe drops next month. Get a feel for what they’ve got coming with the title track’s lyric video below.
‘Clone of the Universe’ is a jarring song featuring a call and response taunt over the verse where thunderous chords duel with lead guitar work mirrored by the bass and short burst vocal delivery. A rollicking groove and artful drum fills dominate the back half of the song as the energy increases, hitting a wall as doom-laden moments close things out.
“Our song ‘Clone Of The Universe’ was the last song written for the new record,” guitarist Scott Hill told Billboard, who premiered the track. The six-stringer detailed the writing process, adding “On one of the final days of practice before going into the studio at the end of practice as we were packing up our gear, our drummer, Scott Reeder, was doing these fast drum beats/rolls and I thought it sounded great and as soon as I got home I still had his drumming in my head and I wrote the ending riffs to his drum beat.”
Clone of the Universe will be out Feb. 9 on At the Dojo Records and pre-orders can be placed here while digital reservations can be made through iTunes. The stoner rock vets will perform two U.S. shows in February before venturing off to Europe, returning to the States in May for a full headlining jaunt.