As of this writing, the Fu Manchu catalog boasts 13 full-lengths, and Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust might be the most amorphous of them. Even the way the title is written is different between the releases; sometimes it’s (Godzilla’s) Eatin’ Dust, or just Eatin’ Dust, or Godzilla’s / Eatin’ Dust, which is how the band themselves put it for the Godzilla’s / Eatin’ Dust +4 re-release in 2022 above, the last four tracks of which come from the band’s first time in the studio with Brant Bjork (late of Kyuss) drumming. The compiled nature of the release — the Dave Catching/Fred Drake-engineered, Josh Homme-produced, three-song Godzilla EP came out in 1997 on Man’s Ruin Records and the Eatin’ Dust EP followed with Steve Feldman recording in 1999; they merged that same year, with striking variations between the art for the CD and LP of course handled by Man’s Ruin founder Frank Kozik — has made it such that, whereas ‘proper’ albums like 1997’s The Action is Go (discussed here) or 1996’s In Search Of… (discussed here) happened all at once, Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust was put together over a longer timeline.

For the ease of reading it how I think it’s supposed to be read, I’m calling it Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust. As a title, this implies that, indeed, the giant monster lizard born of nuclear fallout destroying Tokyo in what for Fu Manchu became a landmark, perfectly-paced-for-max-groove Blue Öyster Cult cover, is the one eating the dust; presumably it’s the dust of a just-destroyed skyrise, though I suppose if your head goes elsewhere with the implied story, that’s fair enough. Maybe he’s on PCP and doing it wrong. In any case, Man’s Ruin put out Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust in 1999 with eight songs included; the four from Eatin’ Dust, three from Godzilla two years earlier, and “Pigeon Toe,” which based on sound I group with the first four tracks but wasn’t on the Eatin’ Dust 10″, between. As a full-length, the eight-songer is short at 34 minutes compared to other outings, but Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust has persisted. It is less broadly known or celebrated than concurrent works like those linked above or King of the Road, which would follow in early 2000, but therefore makes a rousing discovery piece for new fans digging deeper or those who go back to the era often in listening but want a change.

That’s not, however, the limit of its value. While it’s not really fair to regard it as a studio album rather than a compilation, seeing it as the latter offers something nothing else the San Clemente heavy rockers in their Mammoth Records era (1996-2002) could in terms of directly showcasing the progression of their sound. The tracklisting varies depending on which release you get. The 2004 Elastic Records CD is the first instance I can find of “Eatin’ Dust” leading off and “Godzilla” closing, which the band’s 2010 not-with-four-additional-tracks-yet release on their At the Dojo Records imprint kept, and since that’s the order streaming above, it’s what I’m going with.

Highlights include “Eatin’ Dust” and “Pigeon Toe,” either of which might’ve opened a live set last year, and the characteristic start-stop nod of “Orbiter,” the blowout “Shift Kicker,” the hooky “Mongoose,” “Godzilla” and, for the warmth of their fuzz, “Module Overload” and “Living Legend,” and if you’re counting, you’ll understand that’s all eight songs of the ‘original’ release, and perhaps see why the thing keeps getting put out over time. The songs carry it, and even as “Pigeon Toe” gives over to “Module Overload” — not where the side splits happen on the vinyl, but a perceived divide nonetheless between the Feldman– and the Drake-tracked material — there is a flow maintained perhaps just as a byproduct of all the groove surrounding; a feeling like, ‘okay, now we’re really digging in.’ And so they do.

The thing is, there’s really no way to go wrong here. In an essential era of the band — Bob Balch‘s arrival on lead guitar and the aforementioned Brant Bjork taking over on drums had happened circa ’97, where bassist Brad Davis had come aboard for In Search Of…, making guitarist/vocalist Scott Hill already the lone remaining original member; Mike Coopersmith played guitar on Godzilla — Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust becomes a crucial piece of the catalog, demonstrating the emergent intentionality and self-awareness in their sound. In “Orbiter,” they feel kin to what East Coasters Clutch were doing at the time, but the cowbell and fuzzblast of “Mongoose” are all their own, distinct from the desert rock that Kyuss had fostered a few years earlier and not as aggressively weird as the likes of Monster Magnet, but adding something to the pastiche of what was then just lumped all together as an emergent movement of ‘stoner rock’ that those other bands never could. Further, not only did Fu Manchu stand out from these peers shaping the American heavy underground in their collective image, but they did so with a momentum that was no less their own than their aesthetic. That is to say, they were doing the thing, doing it well, and doing it often.

That ethic alone — how they hit it — is one of the most important aspects of understanding what’s special about Fu Manchu, and the persistent lack of pretense around their songwriting is likewise on display throughout Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust. You don’t need trickery when you have a cut like “Module Overload,” and Fu Manchu are accordingly direct in their delivery. The natural manner in which they arrive at ‘it couldn’t be any other way and still be what it is’ is so much their own that, listening, you don’t even think about it.

Instead, you think ‘damn that’s a good song.’ Eight times in a row for about 34 minutes, if uninterrupted. What Godzilla’s Eatin’ Dust documents and reinforces goes beyond how their approach had come to embrace fuller and clearer production; it stands testament to the fact that the band knew what they were doing and why, and just how solid the identity of their work was at this point. Even when they weren’t ‘making a record,’ they could still make a pretty killer record. One that can stand up to multiple releases, multiple orderings and multiple decades. Turns out when you have the songs, you have everything.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

Another week in the time of horrors.

My mother had a cancerous mole taken off her ear yesterday morning. Not her first time at the dance of the big-C, though I’d certainly be cool with it being her last, not the least for the low-drama nature of it (unless you count that car crash after her last biopsy). Last night I went up the hill to the house where I grew up and changed her bandage. She bled a bit because the gauze was stuck to the wound, but I did what the instructions said, wiped up the blood and it was fine. She needs to do that for a week. I’m sure at some point the bleeding stops.

Meanwhile, The Patient Mrs. had two uncomfortable in-your-40s medical procedures yesterday. Her mother came down from CT to take her so I could still bring The Pecan to school and have her morning be pretty close to the routine. The Patient Mrs.’ mom is traveling the next two weeks, so she left us with her 10-month-old corgi puppy, who even she is willing to admit at this point is a roiling pain in the ass. Yesterday certainly bore that out. We’ve got two weeks with this dog and our dog — who of course is no help — so I guess I’ll look forward to when I get to California Crossing in this shh-don’t-tell-anybody Fu Manchu catalog series I’m doing.

That it’s raining right now is a bummer for making it less likely I’ll take the dog for a walk that she so desperately needs, but I will do my damnedest to umbrella-up and make it happen later on, and maybe I’ll get a break in the weather. Worth keeping an eye. I took the dog around the block twice yesterday and once up the big hill and she slept through the night, so I take that as a win. My prevailing philosophy about puppies is the more they’re exhausted the better life is. For everybody. Also go-outs happen like every 90 minutes (45-60 for the first few months) until they start asking on their own to go pee. With Tilly, that was about a year and a half. It’s very much like having a baby in the house, except different this-is-awesome chemicals being released from your brain, and in the case of someone else’s dog, fewer.

But, family. I lived eight years rent-free at this woman’s house. She birthed my wife. I can put up with her pain-in-the-ass dog for two weeks, and probably more if it came to it. But The Patient Mrs. and I are going to wait to put that new rug out in the living room for sure.

Zelda update? Yeah, what the hell. I beat Link’s Awakening on the Switch. It’s pretty short, and I knew that going in because I’ve played it before, and I consider that a feature rather than a bug. I don’t like minigames, and there aren’t a ton in it because the original was a GameBoy game from 1993, the controls are simple and the chibi style of the Switch remake is charming, so it was fun. I’ve not gone back for the Wind Waker second quest yet and probably won’t for a while. Instead, I started a new playthrough of The Minish Cap on my laptop, which like Link’s Awakening is also short, fun, bright and 2D. I also found a mod for Tears of the Kingdom called ‘The One Ring’ that makes you invisible and has a bunch of other Lord of the Rings weapons in it that I might put on that game just to enjoy a thing. At bedtime, we’ve been reading Tolkien; just finished Fellowship after doing The Hobbit, which The Pecan loved. I thought she might enjoy seeing ‘The One Ring’ in Zelda, especially since just last night she asked me what would happen if Link fought Sauron.

What’s up next week? Fair question. Monday a Pegzilla premiere. Wednesday (maybe?) a Froglord premiere? Somewhere in there also a Lamp of the Universe review. It’s been frustrating, as there are records I’ve wanted to review that I haven’t had time for, but I’m doing my best to fit everything in. The next Quarterly Review starts March 16 and will go at least five days, though it might be six or seven by the time we get there.

I woke up a little before 5AM, got most of this written before school dropoff. The dog was part but not all of what had me up early. I used to wake up at 4AM every day for Obelisk stuff, but that’s no way to live and waking life requires more of me now. Ebbs and flows to balances, such as they are. I’m not sure where I’m going with this, but 17 years on, I’m glad for where this site is, glad I’ve never taken on a staff or taken ads or done advertorial, glad that I write about what I want to when I want. Next week I have more Hungarian class than I had this week, so time will be tighter, but that’s okay too. We’ll get through.

If you can read these words, fuck fascism. If that offends you, then fuck you too, fascist.

Other countries arrest princes. We protect the scum of the earth because they have money. They should all hang and it should be streamed live. Hell, make it really American and let it be pay-per-view.

I’ll leave it there. Have a great and safe weekend. Hydrate, stay focused, watch your back because the assholes are everywhere. Still free Palestine. Free all of us from under the yoke of aligned, white-supremacist state and oligarchic interests.

FRM.

The Obelisk Collective on Facebook

The Obelisk Radio

The Obelisk merch

Tags: California, Fu Manchu, Fu Manchu Godzilla's Eatin' Dust, Godzilla's Eatin' Dust, Man's Ruin Records, San Clemente

This entry was posted on Friday, February 20th, 2026 at 11:49 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.