Radio Moscow

Radio Moscow

Radio Moscow is a US psychedelic and blues rock group from Story City, Iowa, active since 2003. The band forms around guitarist, singer, songwriter and drummer Parker Griggs, and its line-up changes over time while keeping a power-trio format at several points in its career.

Style and background

The group takes its name from the pre-Cold War precursor to the propaganda outlet Voice of Russia. Its sound draws on late-1960s hard rock and psychedelic blues, with references to Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Blue Cheer. Later recordings add a heavier, more muscular edge, with doom and stoner metal elements appearing in the band’s sound.

Formation and early releases

Radio Moscow begins in Ames in 2004 as a collaboration between Griggs and bassist Luke McDuff, whose interests move from garage punk into heavier psychedelia. After the pair send a demo to Dan Auerbach following a Black Keys gig, Auerbach produces the band’s debut album and helps secure a deal with Alive Records. The self-titled first album is recorded by Griggs and McDuff as a duo, with drummer Mayuko joining for live shows shortly before its release.

The band continues as a two-piece for Brain Cycles in 2009 and The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz in 2011. Auerbach’s role as producer and the connection to Alive Records place the group within a wider current of modern blues-rock revival, although Radio Moscow keeps a more old-school approach.

Albums and line-up changes

In 2012, Alive releases 3 and 3 Quarters, a set of recordings Griggs makes on his own in 2003, when he is 17, and which reflects a stronger Pebbles-style garage rock influence. For Magical Dirt in 2014, the band introduces a new line-up, with Griggs joined by bassist Anthony Meier and drummer Paul Marrone. By this point Radio Moscow is an official power trio again.

The group documents its live sound on Live in California in 2016. The next year it signs to Century Media Records and releases New Beginnings, its fifth studio album, which continues the band’s heavy psych direction.

Members

Known members include Parker Griggs, Luke McDuff, Mayuko, Anthony Meier and Paul Marrone. The band is also associated with Zack Anderson.