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The Manchurian

1. Patricia Don't Want It
2. The Only One
3. Little Baby
4. Fortune Teller
5. Rooster

STYLE: Power Blues, Garage Rock

Check out The Manchurians other CDs: Deliverance &  One For All

Issue #106                                              Jun. ‘08

Back in 2006, as The Manchurians were working on their 2^nd CD, Deliverance, Dean Falcone (guitars) joined the line up of Roger C. Reale (vocals, bass), Mike Roth (guitars), Mat Reale (drums), and Bob Orsi (Harmonica). Shortly before the release of that album, Mike Roth passed the torch to Dean and consciously bowed out. While Deliverance carried The Manchurians greasy Chicago Rhythm & Blues style forward, you couldn’t help but notice a bit more garage rock seeping into the sound.

5x4/The Minster EP is the newest Manchurians release, the first with the Roger, Dean, Mat and Bob line up, and while the soul of their R&B sound remains the foundation, one can’t help but hear how Falcone’s presence (and co-writing credits) has pulled Roger back to his garage rock days of The Roger C. Reale Band. By bringing almost 3 decades of garage/indie/pop rock experience to the table, Falcone has only made The Manchurians a more powerful band.

From the title homage to The Rolling Stones to the cover of N. Neville’s Fortune Teller (previously recorded by both The Stones and The Who, as well as Benny Spellman), The Manchurians have brought the basic rhythm & blues out of the backrooms and barrooms and into the garages and corner bars with a blast that hasn’t been heard in years.

“All set?” Roger asks just before counting down The Manchurians into the rip roaring opener Patricia Don’t Want It, and images of power-blues bands surface – The afore mentioned Stones and Who, as well as Cream, Blue Cheer, hell I’d even say Mountain and The Yardbirds. The Only One and Little Baby continue the amp assault along with melodies that do not betray the blues: carefully balancing between the 1966-69 passage of electric-psychedelic-blues, garage-power-pop and the future Heavy Metal, these two songs let us glimpse the musical definition The Manchurians are delivering.

A definition that is clearly thrust into our ears with Fortune Teller and Rooster. Fortune Teller boasts a vintage Who sound that’ll catapult you back to the glorious late 60’s. It never lets up as guest vocalist Christine Ohlman harmonizes with Roger, while Mat and Bob lay down 2:22 of come and get it rhythm and Dean’s guitar chords plow through it all. “Never lets up” is also the best way to describe what is probably The Manchurians greatest song to date, Rooster. Drawing heavily from Led Zeppelin’s When The Levee Breaks, Mat Reale’s drums thunder along Dean’s menacing power guitar chords while Roger’s vocals and bass impart impending doom. Using his harmonica in a similarly ominous manner, Bob Orsi conveys the fight (and flight) that is raging not only in the song but within the music as well.

A powerful closing to a powerful disc. The Manchurians have ratcheted up the intensity by taking their blues base and committing it to the garage in a fashion that allows us to understand the beauty and power that can come from the blending of these genres, that came before, least we forget.

It’s more than a blast from the past…
It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas.

The Manchurians - 5x4/The Minster EP
is available now for: $4.99 + s/h*

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