Legendary Orange County hard rockers FU MANCHU to release tenth album early next year

LOS ANGELES - After nine albums, countless world tours and more than a dozen years of leading their scene, FU MANCHU - perhaps the definitive Southern California hard rock band of the last decade - have signed a worldwide recording agreement with The Century Family. Their tenth, as-yet-untitled album will surface in early 2007 on Liquor and Poker Music in America and on Century Media Records in Europe. An Asian release will be confirmed in the coming months.

"FU MANCHU is one of the most influential rock groups of recent times," says Marco Barbieri, president of The Century Family and Liquor and Poker Music's "high roller." "We're proud and excited to welcome the band to our roster, and we look forward to being part of a new chapter of their impressive history."

Founded by guitarist/vocalist Scott Hill, FU MANCHU debuted their '70s-inspired fuzz rock on 1994's acclaimed No One Rides For Free. Over the next decade, the group received extensive international acclaim for such landmark albums as 1996's In Search Of…, the following year's The Action Is Go, 2000's King of the Road (hailed by Rolling Stone as "the ultimate desert-rock car album") and California Crossing (2001).

Most recently, the group released Start The Machine in 2004. Supported by a nationwide tour with Corrosion of Conformity, the album was praised by All Music Guide as proof that "FU MANCHU have actually improved with age: They first stood out simply as one of the first groups to do what they do, and now deservingly stand out as one of the best at what they do."

The band - which for the last four-plus years has featured Hill, drummer Scott Reeder (ex-Smile) and longtime members Bob Balch (guitars) and Brad Davis (bass) - also has several famous alumni: Nebula mainstays Eddie Glass and Ruben Romano, as well as former Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age drummer Brant Bjork.

FU MANCHU will track their new album at Hollywood's Grandmaster Recorders studios (Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Black Crowes) - where they also recorded In Search Of… and The Action Is Go - with co-producer Andrew Alekel (Weezer, Rancid, Queens of the Stone Age). The band plans to record 13 new songs and, in classic FU fashion, three cover songs: The Cars' "Moving In Stereo," Void's "Who Are You" and Van Halen's "D.O.A."

"We are excited to be working with Liquor and Poker and the entire Century Family," Hill says. "We feel that they really understand rock bands like us. Our new record is heavier, thicker, fuzzier and more aggressive than anything that we've done for a while. We can't wait to get this record out and then hit the road to play these songs live. We can only turn up so much at practice, but these songs are meant to be played loud!"

Although recording will take precedence for the immediate future, FU MANCHU will perform live periodically throughout the rest of 2006 and kick off a full world tour early next year.

Launched in 2003, Liquor and Poker Music is the "rock" imprint of the Century Family's flagship label, Century Media Records. With a roster featuring such celebrated acts as Fireball Ministry and Nebula, and with a catalog of two dozen acclaimed releases by the likes of The Hellacopters, Hanoi Rocks and Backyard Babies, the label - part Cold Gin and part Ace of Spades - is actively seeking to develop the next generation of rock stars.