Every year a slew of records are released and by and large go unnoticed, slipping into the void of the used bin at the local Record Exchange. It’s the nature of the beast, especially in today’s constantly “on” world, where anything is accessible and ultimately expendable. Yet every so often, a record comes out that will define an era or a genre, surpassing its contemporaries and becomes a part of the collective social conscious in a sort of agelessness that is hardly circumstance. Weezer did it with its “Blue Album,” while bands like Nirvana and the Pixies had similar success with multiple records. For stoner rock, Fu Manchu’s 1996 release “In Search Of…” is that record, continuing to garner praise and sounding fresh 15 years after its release. In honor of their monument to rock, the band will be playing the entire record on their tour this month. While there’s a current movement of bands playing their classic records live, Fu Manchu’s tour came about as more of an accident, according to frontman Scott Hill. “We were going to do something for the 20th anniversary of the band and we completely forgot about it,” Hill said. “We realized the next year we missed it and we though of doing a 21-year thing, but decided that would be kind of stupid. Our manager pointed out that the 15-year anniversary of ‘In Search Of…’ was coming up and said it would be cool to play the record all the way through.” The band agreed, though Hill had one requirement before he’d go through with it: That the label allow them to repress the album on vinyl. They were happy to oblige, and the band dove in. “We booked a whole tour without even trying the record. We weren’t even sure if it would be fun to play,” said Hill. “Thankfully, it was.” Earlier in the fall, Fu Manchu spend six weeks touring Europe, playing the album in its entirety. Audiences’ enthusiasm reassured the band that the album was still relevant, and the tour also helped them get accustomed to playing the decade-and-a half-year-old material. At this point, said Hill, the band doesn’t have to spend too much time rehearsing the record. While they know the songs, recapturing the classic fuzzed-out sound of the record presented another challenge. A lot of the vintage gear that the band used to create the album in the first place has broken down or been stolen, though Hill hardly seems disheartened by it. “I had this old fuzz pedal that I used to record all the records with and back in 1998 we were playing and got off stage and somebody grabbed it and took off. That was my sound. You can’t really find certain fuzz pedals anymore,” he said. “I tried to find other pedals and they came close, but what are yougoing to do? It’s like I have a 1968 El Camino,you can’t just let it sit in the garage. You gotta drive it around.” Luckily, the current trend of boutique gear has offered suitable replacements. In fact, Fu Manchu bass player Mark Abshire makes hand-wired effect pedals that capture that much-sought-after vintage tone. “He just started building a few and they sounded great,” Hill said. “He made me a Super Fuzz pedal that’s pretty much exactly the same as my original Super Fuzz pedal.” Though the band has an affinity for throwbacks, one thing that has been impossible for them to maintain is the small-capacity venues they began in. When Fu Manchu was booking tours in the mid ’90s, it was in bars that would hold around 100 people, something that began to change with the release of “In Search Of…” “When we were first touring the record it was with the Deftones and somewhere along the lines Limp Bizkit opened up,” Hill said. “Times have changed a little.” Expect a more than a hundred people at the Grog Shop on November 9, when Fu Manchu will be playing “In Search Of…” with Honky and The Shrine.