“Radio Moscow Burns Bright in San Francisco” by Jason Shane

Antiquiet Photos from the San Francisco Show

After Green & Wood, Radio Moscow took the stage, almost unrecognizable from just three weeks ago when singer/songwriter, guitarist, and band leader Parker Griggs parted ways with the other two-thirds of his power trio and flew in bassist Billy Ellsworth and drummer Lonnie Blanton to support him on this tour and potentially beyond.

Thrown to the wolves by the band’s frontman, the two newbies immediately demonstrated their worthiness on set opener Broke Down, off the 2009 albumBrain Cycles. Blanton’s thunderous work on his minimalist kit and Ellsworth’s rolling, muddy bass provided the ideal backdrop for Griggs’ inspired throwback guitar work.

Radio Moscow continued their roll on Speedfreak and Creepin, both off 2011’sThe Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz, with Griggs and company sounding like they’d been together all along. During “Speedfreak”’s calamitous ending, all three band members were lost in their own instruments, but somehow producing a singular vision of modern blues metal. They seemlessly moved into “Creepin’,” locked in a blues groove with Griggs working his best bluesman growl before diving into another mind-bending solo.

After tearing through another Brain Cycles track, The Escape, they returned withLucky Dutch, off their 2007 Dan Auerbach-produced self-titled debut. The song’s ripping groove and Grigg’s guitar god licks drew the evening biggest response, with the crowd roaring its approval.

Returning to Magnafuzz, Griggs launched into the instrumental anthemDensaflorativa. Ellsworth dropped his bass and broke out maracas and a conga, giving the song its distinct Stones-in-Morocco feel. The furious “Little Eyes” followed, with Griggs’ muddy, blues riffs underpinning his snarling lamentation that he “just can’t find no reason to believe.”

Radio Moscow closed out their set with 250 Miles, a deep blues jam off of Brain Cycles, taking the song on a more-than-seven minute journey that showed the band’s range. Starting with a attitude-filled Delta blues groove, Griggs, Ellsworth, and Blanton exploded into a total psychedelic freakout, extending the show-closing jam for more than seven minutes as the audience roared their approval. [READ MORE]

About Radio Moscow

Radio Moscow came about a few years back in a Story City, Iowa basement. The First version of Radio Moscow Began as a solo project by Parker called Garbage Composal. At this time the sound was very raunchy mid-sixties-ish garage rock heavily influenced by the hidden gems and bands on the nuggets comps, yet still sounding very much its own. Parker recorded one albums worth of the Garbage Composal Demos under the new name Radio Moscow.

Along with the new name came new bass player Serana Andersen. This line-up lasted for a few years without a drummer. Around this time the band started evolving and a whole new sound was created. Still garage-y but now channeled through the blues with experimental breakdowns, unpredictable tempo changes, crazy rave-ups and fuzzed out psychedelic guitar work. For shows parker would pre-record the drums on a 4-track and then blasts it through amplification. Serana and Parker moved to Colorado in the quest for a drummer and a new scene.

Things started out very promising when Dan from The Black Keys called Parker up said he dug the demo that he gave him at a concert and was going to try to push it for us to get it on ALIVE/BOMP records. Parker returned by himself to Iowa to try to get the band up and going. Luke McDuff from Ames filled the vacant bass spot. Together they recorded the debut album for ALIVE/BOMP records with producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. The Album was released Feb. 27, 2007. Luke then had to go back to school, so Parker continued looking for a solid line-up.

After one tryout Zach Anderson jumped on as new bassist — with the help of a few drummer friends (keith rich, todd stevens, paul marrone, cory berry). At the beginning of 2012 Radio Moscow said goodbye to longtime bassist Zach Anderson and touring drummer Cory Berry due to conflicts within the band.

On one day notice, bassist Billy Ellsworth and drummer Lonnie Blanton joined Parker Griggs in the rebirth of Radio Moscow.

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