In the hazy, heavy world of stoner rock, two bands have risen out of pioneering act Kyuss to develop their own legions of followers--Queens of the Stone Age and Fu Manchu. Queens gained the respect of the mainstream alt-rock crowd, while Fu Manchu developed their own cult of worshipers through small indie labels. Now on their seventh album, Fu Manchu should be on their way to grabbing more of the commercial rock spotlight; their clean, straightforward sound is spit-shined and ready for airplay. While not quite up there with Fu's 2000 epic King of the Road, California Crossing is a big-barreled hybrid of sludgy guitars, mid- to up-tempo rhythms (with a couple insane drum solos), and frontman Scott Hill's SoCal-driven vocals. The album is the standard tribute to Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer. But like ex-bandmates Nebula, Fu Manchu add Led Zeppelin-like classic rock influences to their music as well. With songs like "Squash That Fly" and "Mongoose," California Crossing is a well-fueled album that should please fans of that gray area between heavy metal and hard rock. Jennifer Maerz