**1/2 Fu Manchu

THE ACTION IS GO

(Mammoth)

No one pulls off in-the-red '70s boogie metal like Fu Manchu, who've resurrected a blunted genre that may never have really existed. Back in the day, you would have had to put up with a bunch of wanky bullshit to get this much maximum riffage, and the wah-wah was always mixed above the crunch. That's not a problem on the Fu's latest, which was produced by psychotronic ace (and White Zombie guitarist) J Yuenger, with a reconfigured line-up that brings in a natural ally in former Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork, and a fresh blood donor in guitarist Bob Balch. Not as arid and sinister as Kyuss, or as primary-color-psychedelic as Monster Magnet, the Fu offer a certain unobtrusive, no-frills haziness that occasionally mistakes drab repetition for drone exploration. But the main point of their stylistic trademark -- the dirty raunch of biker-movie-soundtrack fuzz welded to updated Sabbathisms -- remains as it was: to provide a receptacle for slow-motion terrycloth memories of blurry beanbag comfort and blazing daredevil flare.

-- Carly Carioli

(Fu Manchu play Axis the Wednesday, November 19. Call 262-2437.)