Photo: Radio Moscow/Facebook
Hailing from Ames, Iowa – RADIO MOSCOW play that killer kind of psychedelic Sabbath-style blues rock we all know and love. If we can imagine what Jimi Hendrix might sound like if he was still with us today, I’m gonna imagine it likely would’ve sounded a lot like RM.
With influences heavily rooted in 60′s psychedelia and 70′s blues rock, RADIO MOSCOW is most certainly carrying the old school Rawk & Roll torch forward for us. They’ve gone through some line-up changes over the years. But main man Parker Griggs remains as the heart and soul of this funky fuzzed-up psychedelic midnight blues train. These guys are blow-minding. But don’t take this cat’s word for it.
From the RADIO MOSCOW artist Bio on Facebook:
With a powerful, crunching Sabbath-style chords and fiery solos that earn the right to be called Hendrixian, Iowa power trio Radio Moscow plants its flag firmly in the territory where psychedelic rock, cranked-up blues, and metal meet. The sound is unabashedly retro (specifically, FM radio from around 1973), so it’s easy to see how it caught the ear of The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced its 2007 self-titled debut. Like the Keys, Radio Moscow updates an old-school style with pure passion and a refreshing lack of irony. On a break from the band’s current tour, which brings it to the Turf Club Thursday, July 30, guitarist and frontman Parker Griggs talked with The A.V. Club about working with Auerbach and self-producing the new Brain Cycles. – Christopher Bahn / The ONION (A.V. Club – Minneapolis)
From the RADIO MOSCOW artist Bio on Facebook:
If the opening squall of Parker Griggs’ paint-stripper lead guitar on opening cut “I Just Don’t Know” doesn’t tell you something significant about the shit that passes for high-rotation-programmed-within-a-centimetre-of-its-sad-existence commercial radio these days, go to the back of the class. You were off playing ABBA records in the home economics kitchen when the teacher broke out the sacrament and gave the rest of the class the lesson in Hendrix 101. Major Fail.
To be accurate, Griggs doesn’t slavishly replicate Jimi’s distinctive overdriven tone and wah-wah wonderment across these 10 bluesy tunes, but he’s batting in the same ballpark and hitting home run after home run for the six string team regardless. Except for the “Voodo Chile” rip in “Hold On Me”, it’s actually his vocal that sounds most like Hendrix (cock an ear to “No Jane” for a dose of “Electric Loudland”) but who’s going to split (Afro) hairs about which guitar lick, lead-run and trill most resembles the output of which ’70s guitar hero when it all sounds this excessively good? It’s like “461 Ocean Boulevard” never existed.
This is not the music (term used under advisement) that you’ll hear leaking out of ill-fitting iPod earbuds on the peak-hour train. Take that as a recommendation. Sanity can only stand so much tinny breaks or arrant rap crap on the 7.42am to Dull City. The eight-minute-plus “No Good Woman” even dares to trade in that most outdated of currencies, The Drum Solo. Far from being The Death Of Us All, the indulgence slots right in.
It’s a statement of the obvious that Griggs’ quicksilver fretwork and frenetic, stuttering drums are all over “Brain Cycles.” Bassist Zach Anderson goes along for the ride and pours hot asphalt into all the right potholes. Two people haven’t made this much noise together since Pamela and Tommy made their home movie. At least you can play this in front of the kids.
The thunderous, acid-drenched blare of the title track might be a bigger downer than an early start on a Tuesday morning after a massive long weekend of partying, but it tastes much better than antacid and Red Bull for breakfast.
Only “Black Boot” manages to interrupt the barrage of raw and righteous ’70s rawk – and that’s to dip the toe in the water of bluegrass – but the follow-up of “City Lights” gets us back on track. Sure beats “That ’70s Show” for rear vision entertainment.
One of the best trips I’ve taken in 1969, sorry, 2009. – The Barman / I-94 Bar
RADIO MOSCOW’s latest offering is entitled ‘The Great Escape Of Leslie Magnafuzz.‘ The band released its self-titled album in February 2007, and then released ‘Brain Cycles’ in 2009. You can link up with all things RADIO MOSCOW on their home page HERE.
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