"Riding along in my automobile/My baby beside me at the wheel/Cruising and playing the radio/With no particular place to go." Chuck Berry made it sound so simple. Yet few musicians are able to produce good music and make it sound so easy. Classic riffs and simple pleasures; you can draw a straight line from Berry to AC/DC to The Ramones to So-Cal’s hard rocking Fu Manchu.

Fu Manchu has been blasting out primal, powerful rock for almost a decade. The band’s new offering is tanked up with rumbling guitar, bedrock rhythms and the deepest grooves since Paul Bunyan carved out the Grand Canyon.

The title track is not the old Roger Miller hobo song, but it does sum up Fu Manchu’s philosophy of cruising all night at top speed, rocking until the sun comes up. The ass kicking tune traces two Fu Manchu influences: early ‘80s hardcore punk and ‘70s classic rock. It’s what you get if you cross Black Flag with Black Sabbath. Another revved up piece is the single "Over the Edge." Singer-guitarist Scott Hill and lead guitarist Bob Balch throw down riffs guaranteed to make your head spin, and punch things up with a few quick homage’s to both Black Sabbath and AC/DC.

"King of the Road" glorifies the almighty highway ("Hell on Wheels," Hotdoggin’," and "Boogie Van" to name a few). But Fu Manchu also runs through tracks featuring another band obsession, movies. "No Dice" references "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" with the refrain "no shoes - no shirt - no dice." "Grasschopper" and "Weird Beard" are both directly inspired by ‘60s and ‘70s biker films scored by fuzz guitar icons like Davie Allan and the Arrows. "Grasschopper" barrels along at nearly punkish speed and has the same take-no-prisoners attitude that made Davie Allan a guitar hero. "Weird Beard" channels Steppenwolf and showcases the pummeling rhythms of former Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork and bass player Brad Davis, who are the heaviest rhythm team since Bonham and John Paul Jones.

"King of the Road" burns with Fu Manchu’s patented fuzzy guitar. But the band and producer/engineer Joe Barresi (The Melvins, Powerman 5000, Queens of the Stone Age) have polished up any rough spots and added gloss to the basic primer. Fu Manchu’s ability to go beyond the red zone and maintain control culminates in a thrashed cover of Devo’s "Freedom of Choice." Fu Manchu turns the New Wave pop song into a declaration of independence: "Nobody ever said that life was free/Use your freedom of choice."

"King of the Road" is Fu Manchu’s best release. Chuck Berry sang, "We were reelin’ and a rockin’ and rollin’/Till the break of dawn." Fu Manchu understands those simple but powerful words, and definitely keep it going all night long.