Tag Archives: Power Trio

Radio Moscow: The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz

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‘70s-styled power-trio monster riffage

Parker Griggs and his band take it to the next level of power-trio psychedelic blues-rock with their third album. Griggs is possessed by the metal, blues-rock, boogie and prog-rock greats of the early ‘70s as he unleashes monster guitar riffage astride the slugfest of his rhythm section. One can only dream that Radio Moscow could be sent back in time to tread the stage of Winterland on a bill with Hendrix, Sabbath, Crimson, Ten Years After or Humble Pie. The album opens in full hypersonic stride, with the bass and drums threatening to run away from the ear-clearing wails of Parker’s fuzzed guitar, and the bombast doesn’t let up until disc’s end. There are a few production touches – stereo pans, phase effects and feedback – but the bulk of the album is straightforward, take-no-prisoners hard rock. Drop the needle on your Thorens turntable, turn up the volume on your Marantz receiver and let your Advent loudspeakers sing. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Little Eyes
Radio Moscow’s Home Page

On Tour: Radio Moscow

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In support of their second album Brain Cycles, this hard-rocking Iowa power trio will be touring Europe throughout April and May.

MP3 | Broke Down

Apr 15 @ Sala Stereo – Alicante, Spain
Apr 16 @ Savoy Club – Gijon, Spain
Apr 17 @ Helldorado – Vittoria, Spain
Apr 18 @ Rock Sound – Barcelona, Spain
Apr 19 @ Durango Club – Valencia, Spain
Apr 21 @ La Mecanique Ondulatoire – Paris, France
Apr 22 @ Inside – Dortmund, Germany
Apr 23 @ Roadburn Festival – Tilburg, Germany
Apr 24 @ Db’s – Utrecht, Netherlands
Apr 27 @ MFK – Strasbourg, France
Apr 29 @ Clubkeller – Frankfurt, Germany
Apr 30 @ Queen Days Festival – Rotterdam, Netherlands
May 1 @ Klub 700 – Orebro, Sweden
May 2 @ The Garage – Oslo, Norway
May 5 @ The Duchess – York, UK
Mat 6 @ Cluny – Newcastle, UK
May 7 @ The Globe – Cardiff, Wales
May 8 @ Mr. Wolff’s – Bristol, UK
May 9 @ The Luminaire – London, UK
May 12 @ Bohemien – Bari, Italy
May 13 TBA – Tuscany, Italy
May 14 @ Magnolia – Milan, Italy
May 15 @ Stoned Hand Of Doom Festival – Rome, Italy
May 16 @ Festintenda – Mortegliano, Italy
May 17 TBA – Rovigo, Italy
May 19 @ Rock Palace – Madrid, Spain
May 20 @ Mardi-Gras – La Coruna, Spain
May 21 @ Orfeau Club – Velo, Portugal
May 22 @ Plano B – Porto, Portugal
May 23 @ Castrus Bar – Foreas, Portugal
May 25 @ Rockadelic – Gandia, Portugal
May 27 @ Gallion – Lorient, France
May 28 @ Heretic – Bordeaux, France
May 29 @ Astrolabe – Orleans, France
May 30 @ Festival Mixed Up – Beauvais, France
May 31 @ Art Rock Festival – St Brieuc, France

Radio Moscow: Brain Cycles

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radiomoscow_braincyclesBrain melting heavy blues-psych guitar rock

Iowan Parker Griggs returns with Radio Moscow’s second album of power-trio electric blues. The trio here is one of instruments rather than players, since Griggs accompanies his bluesy psychedelic guitar leads by pounding out flamboyant, full-kit drumming. He’s surprisingly accomplished at both, and with bassist Zach Anderson (replacing the debut album’s Luke Duff) and the magic of overdubbing, the duo brings to mind the heavy sounds of Hendrix, Cream, Blue Cheer, Jeff Beck, Montrose and other pre-metal hard rockers. If anything, Radio Moscow’s gotten heavier, riffier in its tuneage and flashier with its rhythms. Though he was no slouch on the group’s previous album, Griggs’ sounds like he’s been practicing his drumming.

Radio Moscow is a heavy-jam powerhouse, with many of the tracks clocking in at 4- and 5-minutes, and the studio-effect heavy “No Good Woman” stretching to over eight, including a (flashback alert!) minute-thirty drum solo. Griggs serves as the band’s vocalist, singing through processing that sounds like a Mellotron, but the lyrics mostly serve to keep the guitar solos from running over one another. It’s best to approach the band as an instrumental combo, with the scattered vocals as texture. The singer who could actually front this torrent of sound (rather than stand by and occasionally lob lyrics into the quieter parts) would just end up distracting from the group’s tight, gutsy interplay of guitar, bass and drums.

The tight, heavy riffs bring to mind early UK prog-rock and metal bands like King Crimson, Arthur Brown’s Kingdom Come and Black Sabbath, but generally without the lengthy excursions into jazz-styled jamming. Available on both CD and vinyl (but sadly not reel-to-reel tape), this should really be heard at maximum volume through classic 1970s speakers such as Altec Voice of the Theater A7s and a suitable cloud of smoke. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Broke Down
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